Kathmandu, June 26: Deputy Speaker Indira Rana asserted that voice of women would be stronger if they were united.
At a programme organized by the Women’s Alliance for Peace, Justice and Democracy here today to deliberate on the draft of Integrated Election Act, Deputy Speaker Indira Rana reiterated that female parliamentarians should be united to ensure women’s representation in every state organs as per the latest census.
According to her, women should be fielded in the society having dominance of women. “Whichever community has dominance in a particular place, that community should be granted rights to elect their representatives. This should be applied in the case of Dalit, indigenous communities and women.”
She argued that parliament is the right place for presenting agenda and pressing for them, and urged all female parliamentarians to demonstrate their strong presence in the parliament.
Similarly, women rights activist Sashi Shrestha viewed that women lawmakers should table proposal seeking amendments in the laws that would address their concerns. For that, she emphasized unity among the female lawmakers and intense deliberation on the law.
Likewise, CPN (UML)’s leader Binda Pandey underscored proportional representation of the marginalized, Dalit and minority communities. She demanded that the Article 38 under the Fundamental Rights of the Constitution of Nepal should be followed. The Article 38 mandates that every woman shall have equal lineage right without gender based discrimination.
“At present, there are 91 female parliamentarians. If all female lawmakers unite and form a Women Coordination Committee, it would be easier to advance gender cause,” opined Pandey.
Leader Hisila Yami stated that since women make up more than half of the country’s population, the Election related legislation should allow women to run for election based on their dominance in terms of population.
CPN (Unified Socialist) parliamentarian Ram Kumari Jhakri called for creating enabling environment for all the eligible voters in Nepal to cast the ballot during election. She also pressed for the provision on which eligible voters exercise their ballot wherever they are within the country.
The speakers in the deliberation univocally underscored the need for the stakeholders and lawmakers to take into account the constitutional provisions concerning women rights while formulating related legislation.
