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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000815 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NP
SUBJECT: INDIGENOUS CANDIDATES TO CONTROL ONE-THIRD OF 
NEPAL'S CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Indigenous nationality ("janajati") candidates won 
just over a third of the seats in Nepal's Constituent 
Assembly (CA) election on April 10.  They occupy nearly a 
third of the seats from first-past-the-post contests and 
slightly more than a third from the proportional 
representation (PR) race.  Janajati candidates also received 
half of the 26 appointed seats, giving them a total of 212 
members (or 35 percent) in the 601-member Assembly.  Almost 
half -- more than 90 of them -- are Maoists.  However, the PR 
race, with its significant quota for indigenous 
nationalities, ensured that the other major parties also 
included janajatis in their ranks.  The CA election's results 
constituted a significant increase over the 1999 election in 
the percentage of janajati in Nepal's Parliament and brought 
these historically disadvantaged groups a level of 
representation roughly comparable to their total population. 
 
Janajatis to Control One-Third of Seats 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) In April's election, indigenous nationality 
("janajati") candidates captured 212 seats, or 35.2 percent, 
of the 601-member Constituent Assembly (CA).  Janajati 
candidates won 79 of the 240 first-past-the-post (FPTP) 
seats, or 32.9 percent, and 120 of the 335 proportional 
representation (PR) seats, or 35.8 percent.  They also won 
half of the 26 appointed seats in the CA. 
 
Maoists Dominate Janajati Representation 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) A large number of janajati candidates elected in both 
races are from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). 
Maoists captured 50 of the 79 seats won by janajatis in 
first-past-the-post (FPTP) contests and 43 of the 120 
janajati seats in the proportional representation (PR) race. 
The Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of 
Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (UML) also won a substantial 
number of janajati seats.  The NC and CPN (UML) won 10 and 11 
seats, respectively, in FPTP races and 27 and 25 seats, 
respectively, in the PR contest.  While most of the janajati 
seats were won by members of the three largest parties, a 
handful of small, indigenous-based parties also won seats - 
including the National People's Liberation Party, the Federal 
Democratic National Forum, the Nepal National Party and the 
Nepal Democratic Socialist Party.  All of these seats were 
won in the PR contest.  (Note: The PR contest employed a 
quota requiring all parties who had more than 100 candidates 
on their candidate list to select janajati candidates for at 
least 37.8 percent of the seats they won. End note.) 
 
Substantial Increase Compared to Previous Parliament 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶4.  (U) April's CA election showed a 12.3 percent increase in 
the number of janajatis in parliament since the 1999 general 
election.  This increase brings the proportion of indigenous 
MPs to a point of near equality with the proportion of 
janajatis in Nepal's total population, which is estimated at 
37.8 percent.  However, there are still no major janajati 
parties.  Probably the three most prominent janajati MPs are 
Subash Nembang (UML), a Rai elected from Ilam, who is the 
former Speaker of the Interim Parliament, and K.B. Gurung 
(NC), a Gurung also elected from Ilam, who is the Acting 
Chairman of the CA, and parliamentary leader of the Madhesi 
People's Rights Forum Bijay Gachchhadar, who is a Tharu. 
 
Large Number of Indigenous Groups Represented 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) According to the Nepal Federation of Indigenous 
Nationalities (NEFIN), the newly elected janajati MPs 
represent a total of 37 of the 59 officially registered 
indigenous groups.  Among these, the Tharus, the Newars, the 
Magars, the Gurungs, the Rais, the Tamangs, and the Limbus 
received the largest number of seats.  Between the FPTP 
contests and the PR race, 33 indigenous groups captured 
 
KATHMANDU 00000815  002 OF 002 
 
 
seats.  An additional 4 groups gained representation by being 
selected for one of the 26 appointed seats.  (Note: According 
to the Interim Constitution, as amended, the purpose of the 
appointed seats was to give representation to indigenous 
groups which had not been able to gain it through either the 
FPTP contests or the PR race.  NEFIN Chairman Pasang Lama 
received one of these seats.  End Note.) 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The fact that janajatis reached nearly proportional 
representation in the recent CA election is a positive sign 
for Nepal's indigenous communities, who have often been 
underrepresented and discriminated against in the past.  It 
is also significant that janajati candidates were almost 
equally successful in the PR and FPTP races, which had no 
quota attached to them.  Much of the credit for this success 
can be given to the Maoists, who have clearly become a strong 
ally for indigenous communities by nominating janajati 
candidates.  However, there are still few janajati faces in 
any party's leadership.  In a country where most decisions 
are made by party leadership -- and where voting along party 
lines is mandatory -- the challenge for janajatis is to 
translate their numerical strength into political power. 
BERRY