• Out of the 5,184 candidates contesting the upcoming polls, 597 are above the age of 60 and 60 per cent are above 40 years

Kathmandu, November 12

Most of the candidates who are contesting the provincial and parliamentary polls slated for November 26 and December 7 are old faces.

According to the Election Commission, out of the 5,184 candidates contesting the elections, 597 are above the age of 60. Sixty per cent candidates are above the age of 40. There are 107 candidates trying to be elected for the first time from the Nepali Congress, 130 from the CPN-UML and 93 from the CPN-MC. As far as the voters are concerned, 52 per cent are below the age of 40.

Everybody who is 18 and above has voting right in Nepal. Government policy categorises people below 40 years of age as youth, but politicians around 40 years of age are called youths.

According to the Election Commission, after the local level election 1,400,000 eligible voters were added and most of them are youth voters.

Political researcher Chandra Dev Bhatta said the figures of candidates reflected the fact that young people’s voices will not be reflected in the country’s policies.

According to Bhatta, lack of periodic election, influence of money on politics and lack of charismatic leadership among the young generation are factors that have led to low representation of young generation in elected bodies of the state. Bhatta also said that the fund allocated to members of the Parliament was also a reason behind the low rate of representation of young leaders in the elected bodies.

“When MPs have some fund to spend in their constituencies, they can influence voters by spending in their constituencies,” he said and added that old MPs give the impression to the public that they can deliver better than young leaders.  He also said that while China and Japan faced the problem of ageing population, Nepal faced the problems of unemployed young people.

Ram Prasad Sapkota, chair of Young Communist League said that the youths had always been in the  forefront of political struggles, including the people’s war, but they were not getting proportional representation in the political parties, candidacy and other opportunities. “We need to change this trend wherein the old faces and aged people are given priority,” he added.

Assistant Spokesperson of the EC Mukunda Sharma told THT that the current trend showed that entry of young generation in leadership role of political power was still a far cry.