There is a school of thought that argues that the essential democratic institution is the ballot box and all that goes with it, as it is primarily concerned with the choosing representatives to govern the electors.

Election is not a new phenomenon and Nepal has been holding elections since 1959. We had parliamentary elections in 1959, 1991, 1994 and 1999. In all these elections First-Past-the-Post electoral system was adopted. However, FPTP could not make the lower houses of Parliament proportional and inclusive, as parties with low percentage of votes secured higher percentage of seats. For example, the Nepali Congress secured 54 per cent of seats with 36 per cent of votes in 1999 elections.

There was no representation of Dalit community in the House. Similarly, women, who cover more than 50% of the total population, had hardly six seats in previous Houses.

Hence, at the behest of the CPN-UML and the United CPN-Maoist mixed electoral system was adopted for the election to the Constituent Assembly in 2008 with two segments - FPTP system for 240 seats and Proportional Representation system for 335 seats. Initially, PR system was accepted for only 240 seats that were equal to the number of seats under FPTP. After Madhes movement in 2008, the seats under PR segment were increased to 335 in proportion to the increase in population as per 2001 population census report.

Consequently, the first CA was comparatively more proportional and inclusive as women’s representation reached 33 per cent of seats and even Dalits secured substantial number of seats. The percentage of Madhesi and indigenous communities too rose considerably in the House.

Full proportionality and inclusion were not attained as the FPTP segment could not provide proportionality and inclusive representation but the PR segment could help acquire better representations.   The second CA was neither proportional nor inclusive in character, as the representation of women dropped to 27 per cent since it has followed the previous pattern.

The new constitution has accepted several electoral systems for different tiers of representations, right from the presidential election to the lowest level of ward members. Interestingly, the elections to presidency and vice-presidency are the same, as both the posts will be filled with majoritaian electoral system with two-round system. An electoral college of voters consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament and the members of the provincial assemblies with their weightage of votes will elect the president and vice-president.

The two-round system could have been replaced with the limitation of percentage of votes to avoid the runoff system. Sadly, a less functional post of the vice-president has been unnecessarily made the subject of national election.

The Parliament, which will have 275 members, will be elected under mixed system. The first segment of FPTP system will be adopted to elect 165 members and 110 members will be elected under PR system. So in contrast to both the CAs, the new Parliament will have 40 per cent seats to be elected under PR and 60 per cent under FPTP system, making the next House of representatives less proportional and less inclusive.

Moreover, seats have to be distributed in accordance with the population of the provinces. If seats are not distributed in seven provinces in proportion to the population of the provinces, it will bring anomaly in the final representation. The total number of seats should have been kept open to adjust the seat sharing in all provinces even in the future. This issue was raised earlier and will also be raised by the Madhesi parties to do justice to their population. Thus, the next House of representatives will be more disproportionate and more exclusive than the present CA.

If the government decides to go for Mixed Member Proportional System, known as Compensatory System of election, the Lower House may turn into a proportional House.

Unlike the previous Upper House, which was elected on the basis of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, the new National Assembly will be a permanent House with 59 members, including three nominated members. The members of the provincial assemblies and the chiefs and deputy chiefs of the village and municipal committees with their weightage of the votes will elect two women, one Dalit and five members from each province.

The Upper House will not be a proportional House, as equal number of members will be elected from all provinces, irrespective of their population. However, it will be an inclusive House.

The provincial assembly will also be elected through mixed electoral system in which 60 per cent members will be elected through FPTP and the rest 40 per cent through PR system. The chiefs, deputy chiefs and all members of the wards, including the ward chairmen, will be elected through FPTP system as done previously.