As many as 6,094 candidates are contesting federal and provincial elections to be held on November 26 and December 7 under the proportional (PR) category, the Election Commission (EC) said on Friday. 

Political parties on October 15 had submitted the closed lists of their PR candidates for the two upcoming elections. 

The parties had submitted the closed list by incorporating names from eight communities and groups including indigenous nationalities (Adivasi), Khas-Arya, Tharu, Dalit, Madhesi, Muslim, people with disabilities and backward region as required by the law. 

Parties, which have faced criticism for fielding only seven percent women candidates under the first-past-the-post system, have fielded 56 percent women candidates under the PR system. 

As per Elections of House of Representative and Elections of Provincial Assembly laws, the parties were required to submit their PR lists by incorporating at least 50 percent women candidates for both the elections. The provision is expected to enable the parties to ensure 33 percent women representation in the federal parliament and provincial assemblies as envisioned by the constitution.

Women leaders have described the parties’ failure to improve number of women candidates under the FPTP system as “a manifestation of patriarchal tendency of among parties’ top leadership”.  “They still think women cannot win elections under the FPTP system,” said Srimaya Thakali, a CPN-UML leader who served as the vice-president of Women Lawmakers’ Coordination Committee, a caucus of cross-party lawmakers, in the erstwhile Parliament. “This prevents women from developing their leadership skills.” 

As per the final PR list made public by the EC, the number of women in all categories is higher than that of men except in the people with disabilities group. The closed list contains two candidates from third gender, according to the EC. The EC said in a press release that people could register complaints against the PR candidates by November 10.

Among the parties, the Nepali Congress has put Treasurer Sita Devi Yadav on the top of its PR list for the federal parliament followed by Chitra Lekha Yadav. Pratap Prakash Hangam is on the top of the party’s PR list for provincial elections. Similarly, Bijaya Subba is the first name from the UML on the PR list for federal elections followed by Khagendra Rai. The UML has made Lok Bahadur Dhimal as its first candidate for provincial elections.

Rekha Sharma and Purna Kumari Subedi are first and second names on the PR list submitted by CPN (Maoist Centre) for the federal parliament. It has made Sita Thewe its first candidate for provincial elections.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday told election commissioners that the government was committed to providing all kind of cooperation and security for the upcoming elections.