KIRAN PANDAY

Women now make up one third of the constituent assembly and come from a more diverse range of social and geographical backgrounds than ever before. Does this mean that a wider range of voices and opinions will be heard? The initial signs are not good, but perhaps it is too early to tell.

Not all the women were politically active before being selected for the assembly, and many have had only a limited education.

Shanti Chaudhari (UML) was sold as a kamlari at the age of eight and since suffered what she describes as an "unspeakable torture". She took part in pro-democracy protests and was imprisoned. She has attended adult education classes and can now read with difficulty but still cannot write. The UML selected her as a candidate because of her involvement in the land reform movement in Dang.

"I had mixed feelings about coming to Kathmandu?happy and a little nervous," she told Nepali Times this week. First, Shanti had trouble persuading security guards she was an assembly member, then she was robbed in Baneswor after an assembly session last month. Some assembly members ignore her, she says along with others from similar, underprivileged backgrounds like her.

Rather more prepared for the rigours of the assembly is Bimala Nepali (NC), who completed secondary school but has no political experience. She says many new assembly members, especially women from rural areas, know little or nothing about how parliament works. "The party should be responsible for training them and teaching them," she says.

Neelam Barma (MJF) has 15 years of political experience in the Madhes movement but it is the first time she has seen a parliament at work. She is frustrated that the women seem to do little more than vote and applaud the men selected for the senior posts of government.

"We have seen the presidential and prime ministerial elections, the nomination of the house chairperson and even the cabinet formation, but we have only seen one woman minister so far," she says.

Barma says the problem is that many of the new women members are uneducated, and even those who had a decent education lack the confidence to speak up on political matters in this bastion of male domination. The MJF has 11 women members, four of whom had no education.

Even the Maoists, who have led the way with the largest number of women candidates, seem to be doing little to help new female members learn the ropes. Maya Chepang never completed her primary education. "I had no idea about parliamentary affairs," she says, and admits she just follows her party's orders.

In the 10 Constituent Assembly sessions so far, only two women have spoken up: Sarita Giri (Sadbhabana-S) and Kalpana Rana (CPN-Unity).

Mukunda Sharma, joint secretary at the Parliament Secretariat, agrees that the political parties should be orientating new members. "The parties should take the responsibility, but the secretariat is coordinating with donor agencies, local organisations and parties to train them," he says.

Sharma says it's not just the women who need training. Some of the men are equally inexperienced in the ways of the CA and on issues like federalism, inclusiveness and state restructuring.

Sharma says 26 technical committees have so far been formed to help assembly members representing the various castes and communities voice their demands and requirements in the right manner.

Sujita Shakya, of the Beyond Beijing Committee which is involved in making women assembly members aware of parliamentary procedures, says: "By the time the CA's real business starts, women members will be ready for the debates."

If the new women members from different backgrounds are not sufficiently confident to speak in the assembly, Shakya says, then the old elite will prevail: "It's not only about the physical presence of women, it is about their active participation in parliamentary business and in drafting the new constitution."

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CA PAs - FROM ISSUE #415 (29 AUG 2008 - 04 SEPT 2008)