Ganesh KC

On August 31, CIL-Kathmandu organized a consultation meeting on the development and finalization of a position paper to be submitted to major political parties, comprising the demands and issues of persons with disabilities with regard to their inclusion, access, and electoral candidacy in the upcoming election, supported by the Canadian fund for local initiatives-CFLI.  Distinguished delegates from different organizations and political unions participated and contributed to the discussion.

In the meeting, Maheshwar Ghimire suggested making specific points and not mixing up the subjects. Ram Prasad Dhungana presented views on two different parts as a representation of PWDs and manifesto while developing the position paper. Devi kumari Parajuli and Suresh Chandra Neupane added to the importance of sooner dissemination of the position paper. Raju Basnet- General Secretary of NFDN, focused on including the political right of PWDs in the acts and regulations. He further added different sister organizations of political parties to initiate the inclusion of disability issues. Also suggested improvising and updating the data and shortening the demands in the position paper as per the time and situation. Also, mention the sections and sub-sections relating to the disability in the position paper. Kiran Shilpakar- President of NAPD highlighted to mention the importance of  PWDs in political representation. Sudershan Subedi – Former president of NFDN suggested reframing the position paper for better clarity. And Rama Dhakal- vice president of NFDN added political parties to mandatorily include the issues of all types of disabilities in their manifestos. 

Finally, Tek Bahadur Gurung-President of CIL-Kathmandu added that suggestions and recommendations raised during the discussion will be incorporated while finalizing the position paper as well as advocacy documents which will be submitted to the political parties and related agencies.

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On August 21, CIL-Kathmandu hosted a  discussion and dissemination meeting on the review of electoral manifestos of major political parties from a disability-inclusive perspective. Under the project of the Canadain fund for Local Initiatives-CFLI, the program organized to promote the electoral candidacy of PWDs, was attended and interacted with by the disability activists affiliated with the political parties and their disability unions, to advocate for a disability-inclusive manifesto, especially in the forthcoming election.

In the dissemination meeting on the review of electoral manifestos, disability activists presented their additional views regarding the previous manifesto review program. Some of the major points of the participants are: Bikash Thapa from Raastriya Lokatantrik Aapanga Sangh– shared his thoughts regarding the disability issue which needs to be promoted by the communist party regarding PWDs affected during the Maoist insurgency period. He also added to promote the representation of PWDs in the local government. Kaladhar Bhandari from Lokatanatrik Aapanga Sangathan Nepal– said that there should not be different advocacy for the PWDs by birth and PWDs by the insurgency or war. Also, he added that such manifestos should address the significant improvement of health, education, and employment opportunities for PWDs. Maheshwar Ghimire from Rashtriya Swotantra Party- added on the involvement of NFDN in pressuring the political leaders in the disability-inclusive election and politics. Dev Kumari Parajuli from Rashtriya Prajatantra Party- said that  PWDs involved in the parties should have their effective role and impression while representing the disability issues. Ramprasad Dhungana from CPN Socialist- added on making the common understanding paper for the development of minimum criteria of inclusion in the manifesto of the political parties. 

Finally, after the discussion a common consensus was developed, finalized and disseminated for the development of the position paper, and the session was formally ended by the closing remarks of the General Secretary, Ganesh KC, and President, Tek Bahadur Gurung respectively. 

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On 17th August, CIL Kathmandu hosted a discussion on reviewing the previous electoral manifestos of major political parties from a disability-inclusive perspective. Under the Canadian fund for Local Initiatives project-CFLI, the program organized to promote electoral candidacy was attended and interacted by the disability activists affiliated with the political parties and their disability unions to advocate for a disability-inclusive manifesto for the forthcoming election.

Disability activists presented the view that it is unfair to consider any type of disability, including psycho-social, for disqualification as an attendant of the PWDs during the voting. Here, Kaladhar Bhandari also added the need for provision to permit the desired person as voting for assistance to severe disabilities like the Visually Impaired as per their choice. During the discussion, Dr. Laxman Gyawali from CPN UML‘s sister organization Lokatanatrik Aapanga Sangathan Nepal– shared that political parties have been writing about disability and their issues without understanding it properly. Also, he added there needs to be the provision of Disability rights as fundamental rights in the constitution. Further adding he advocated for the amendment of the acts and laws for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and the use of dignified and respectful word phrases in such documents. 

Dev kumari Parajuli- central committee member of Rashtriya Prajatantra Party added there is a crucial role of the PWDs in the internal democratic practice and inclusiveness in the parties. Maheshwar Ghimire of Rashtriya Swotantra Party emphasized on improvement of the internal democratic and inclusive system of the party for the strengthening and development of the sister organization of the political parties. Similarly, he assured that in the election manifesto and other official documents of his newly formed party, disability-friendly inclusive methods and accessibility will be given first priority. Bikash Thapa from Raastriya Lokatantrik Aapanga Sangh added that only paper declarations or laws are not sufficient as the real challenge is in practical implementation. 

Other different activists including representatives of CPN Socialist and CPN Maoist expressed that the development of Disability-Inclusive politics is possible only through impactful advocacy and campaigns targeting the political leadership. Finally, Tek. Bahadur Gurung, President of this organization in his concluding remarks said that such programs will help in building a common perception and consensus of persons with disabilities and developing inter-party networks.

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On August 14, CIL Kathmandu conducted a consultation meeting under the project of promoting the electoral candidacy of persons with disabilities, including the women and marginalized groups within the disability at Shital Chautari Restaurant Baneshwar. The consultation which was part of the project supported by the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), was organized to develop networking and build a force of advocacy, campaigning and empowerment in the mission to lead people with disabilities ahead. So as to promote the independent living of persons with disabilities, political representation, inclusion, and participation in the electoral process would serve as means. Hence, the interaction intended to obtain solidarity from the participating organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and disability rights activists for electoral access. Around 25 OPD Leaders and disability campaigners attended and contributed to the discussion. The semi-formally held session started with a brief introduction of the organization and overview of the project, followed by a presentation on the major objectives and activities of the project. Then, the floor was open for discussion, with the expectation of suggestions, feedback, cooperation, and solidarity of all the participating leaders from the disability movement. During the discussion, the general secretary of CIL Kathmandu Ganesh KC said that the programs will be organized to empower and capacitate the persons with disabilities to declare their electoral candidacy, and also to create an environment with the advocacies and lobbies with all the concerned holders including the civil society organizations, election commission and the political parties and leaderships. He added that the programs are planned to restrict the misuse of the rights and opportunities entitled to persons with disabilities through awareness and capacity-building activities. The chairperson of the Blind Youth Association Nepal (BYAN), Kaladhar Bhandari alerted all the activists on the risks of misrepresentation or negligence of persons with disabilities from the political forces during the proportionate system and the chance of including the persons with disabilities in the end of the closed list of the candidates for the shake of formalities. Similarly, the president of the National Association of Physical Disability (NAPD), Kiran Shilpakar focused on the necessary dialog and pressurizing with the political leaderships and sister unions, especially the disability unions of the political parties to make their party inclusive of persons with disability in terms of electoral candidacy. The president of CIL Kathmandu, Tek Bahadur Gurung highlighted the necessity of unity of all the people with disabilities regardless of their political affiliations to pressurize the political forces and the stakeholders to prioritize the inclusion of PWDs in the electoral process and ensure their representation in the policy levels. The project will also emphasize the media mobilization since the mass media seem to have ignored or have not drawn enough attention to political access and representation of PWDs.

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A consultation meeting with the chief election commissioner was held under the leadership of CIL Kathmandu at the office of the election commission on August 11, 2022. The interaction focused on the representation, electoral candidacy, inclusion, and easy access of persons with disabilities in the electoral process.

During the consultation, the president of CIL Kathmandu handed a memorandum comprising the review of existing acts and recommendations on the election for future amendments which included the provisions for proportionate representation of PWDs and compulsory submission of Disability Identity cards while preparing the closed list of candidates. The distinguished delegates from the major organizations of diverse disabilities also highlighted the specific challenges/concerns for and during the election. Tika Dahal- President of Nepal Disabled Women Association added that out of 33% of women’s reservations, representation from PWDs women is needed to be specified. Nita Keshari Bhattrai from the Shruti organization mentioned, “During the making of information regarding election she suggested to add captioning and sign language”. Sugam Bhattrai, treasurer of Nepal association of Blind added, “printing of identifiable color and image of the ballot paper”. Parbat Raj Bista – secretary of NFDN Bagmati – suggested the provision to permit the desired person as voting assistance for a person with severe disabilities like the visually Impaired. Kiran Shilpakar, president of the National Association of Physical Disabled- Nepal, advocated for accessible polling stations and offices.

Later the commissioner responded with a positive remark reassuring immediate correction of certain hurdles like the provision of the compulsive election of persons with disabilities, development of model accessible voting centers (booths), using appropriate and respectful dictions, etc.

The commissioner empathized with the issues raised and promised to make the whole process of election representative and inclusive for all including people with disabilities. Such fruitful interaction would be a benchmark in making the election and political arena inclusive for persons with disabilities as expressed by the president of the National Federation of Disabled Nepal in his concluding remark, he further added that the PWDs be included in the policy-making level of the election commission as the PWDs are neglected by the political forces.

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