KATHMANDU, Jan 6: Gen Z activist Bhawana Raut has expressed dissatisfaction over the low participation of women in new political parties, saying that parties claiming inspiration from the political path of late Ujwal Thapa have failed, in practice, to promote women’s leadership.
Taking to social media on Tuesday, Raut said that although new political parties and leaders frequently invoke Ujwal Thapa’s name, they have not embraced his political consciousness. “Equal participation does not mean merely fulfilling the constitutionally mandated minimum 33 percent quota,” she wrote. “If women’s participation in so-called alternative parties is limited to this threshold, that is not new politics. It is old wine in a new bottle.”
I wonder
She questioned why women continue to be excluded from decision-making levels, stating that while public expectations from traditional parties faded long ago, the practices of new and alternative political forces remain confined to the same old patterns.
Raut pointed out that women are largely absent from the political structure formed a few weeks ago by Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah (Balendra), Kulman Ghising, and Gen Z activist Sudan Gurung. Despite women making up a larger share of the country’s population, their continued absence from leadership tables raises serious concerns, she said.
“What kind of country are the ‘brothers’ dreaming of building?” Raut asked. “Is equal participation meant only for speeches and slogans, or will it be implemented in practice?”
