THE GLASS CEILING IN NEPALESE POLITICS: WHAT’S KEEPING WOMEN FROM WINNING TOP OFFICE?
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal’s progressive 2015 Constitution was hailed globally for its bold commitment to gender equality, establishing strict legal quotas to guarantee female representation across all levels of its newly formed federal democracy.
According to deep-dive field research conducted by Inclusion Economics Nepal (IEN)—a joint research collaborative spearheaded by Yale University and the Kathmandu-based think tank Governance Lab—the legal safety nets designed to uplift women are being actively bypassed by entrenched political machines.
The statistical reality is stark. Following the 2022 general and local elections, the total number of female mayors and deputy mayors in Nepal unexpectedly plummeted by an alarming 20 percent.
The "Backroom Coalition" Loophole
The primary culprit behind this democratic regression is the commercialization of politics and strategic inter-party alliance mapping. When multiple political parties form a pre-election coalition to contest municipal elections, they frequently choose to field only a single, unified candidate for each individual executive seat.
Because the strict constitutional quota applies exclusively to individual parties contesting both positions, coalitions have successfully exploited this legal phrasing. By divvying up the top seats among allied parties—where Party A fields a male mayoral candidate and Party B fields a male deputy mayoral candidate—the requirement to nominate a woman is legally side-stepped.
This tactical backroom dealmaking has systematically led to a phenomenon experts refer to as the "deputization" of female leadership. While women currently comprise roughly 41 percent of all elected local representatives across Nepal's 753 local entities, they are overwhelmingly funneled into secondary, supportive positions.
The Executive Disparity: In local government bodies, women hold over 75 percent of deputy mayor and vice-chairperson positions, but occupy a dismal 3.32 percent of primary mayoral and chairperson roles.
Three Major Barriers Outlined by IEN
Through rigorous data collection and focus group interviews with female politicians representing major entities—including the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, and the CPN (Maoist Centre)—Inclusion Economics Nepal identified three core structural pillars holding women back from the ballot box:
Male Political Gatekeepers: Party elites act as rigid selection committees, consistently favoring male counterparts based on an outdated assumption that executive leadership is inherently associated with masculinity.
The Commercialization of Campaigns: Running for office in Nepal has become increasingly hyper-expensive. Male candidates statistically command significantly greater access to liquid financial resources, corporate backings, and independent credit lines, making it immensely difficult for women to mount competitive campaigns.
Aspiration vs. Realization: IEN's experimental interventions revealed that providing information on selection processes vastly increases a woman’s willingness to seek nominations.
However, under current party dynamics, they face a dead-end, as party elites refuse to translate that aspiration into official party backing.
The Path Forward: Building Cross-Party Alliances
To dismantle these invisible power structures, IEN is currently studying and promoting the formation of specialized inter-party women's networks.
Historically, highly synchronized coalitions like the historic Women’s Caucus were instrumental in cementing gender quotas within the 2015 Constitution.
"There is clear demand from female politicians and aspiring female politicians for platforms that allow them to build solidarity and skills, ultimately becoming competent in elections," stated Chandra Bhandari, IEN’s senior research manager. For Nepal to foster truly inclusive policymaking, the environment must evolve so that party structures and local voters view women not just as quota-fillers, but as primary executive decision-makers.
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