The constitution has a provision for ensuring 33 per cent representation of women in the Parliament, but constitutional experts fear that it may not be fulfilled in the new Parliament.

“Article 84 (8) of the constitution stipulates that if a political party cannot ensure 33 per cent women winners from first-past-the-post parliamentary election and the Upper House election, then it will have to select its proportional representation candidates in such a way so as to ensure 33 per cent of its winning candidates are women,” writes The Himalayan Times.

According to The Himalayan Times, constitutional experts Bhimarjun Acharya and Chandra Kanta Gyawali said chances were high that there might not be 33 per cent women in the Parliament, as the number of women fielded under the FPTP electoral system was abysmal.

Acharya said ensuring 33 per cent women representation in the first and the second Constituent Assembly was possible because 335 members were elected under PR system but under the current electoral system only 110 will be elected under the PR system.

Gyawali said political parties had fielded only around 50 per cent of women candidates in the parliamentary PR elections which could ensure up to 55 members in the Lower House of the Parliament.

There will be 275 members in the House of Representatives and 59 in the National Assembly.

“If we assume that 55 women are elected in the House of Representatives and 22 in the Upper House that will mean only 77 women in the 334-member Parliament, 33 short of the required number,” Gyawali added.

He said provincial assemblies might also not be able to ensure 33 per cent representation of women.