‘Our movement is not against men, it is against the oppressive behavior of Nepali patriarchal society, which may not change even if we have 300 women in the parliament.’ —Sapana Pradhan Malla, United Marxist Leninist Communist Party nominee

“This is a great accomplishment for all Nepali women,” said Sarala Lama of Sa-shakti Nepal, a women’s party that participated in this election. After the 1999 general elections, less than six percent—12 out of the total 205 representatives—were women. In the present constituent assembly, 74 women candidates are from the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal, 39 are from the Nepali Congress, 36 are from the United Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Nepal and 13 are from the Tarai-based Madhesi Janadhikar Forum.

In constituencies such as Gorkha-1 and Bardiya-1, which used to be strongholds of the Nepali Congress and the United Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist women candidates have crushed veteran politicians.

“In this election people voted for transformation. Therefore it is not surprising that Maoist women have defeated these old male leaders,” said Sarita Giri of the Nepal Sadbhabana Party.

Advocate Sabita Bhandari Baral of the Nepal Bar Association agreed that Nepalis were desperate for change and that it was the old, male politicians’ inability to realize this that brought about their downfall.

Some elected representatives are war widows. Experts on women’s issues welcome this but also raise the point that since the process of writing the constitution of a country is complicated, and there are a lot of legal matters involved, it is crucial to have law experts who understand women’s issues in the assembly.

Ms. Giri is not so worried. Women were elected because people trust them to be good leaders, she said, and anyone who said the elected women did not go to school is just trying to discourage them.

The Maoist representative from Rolpa, Jaypuri Gharti Magar lost her husband during the Maoist People’s War and for years she did not have a permanent home. She traveled around Nepal as a fighter, she took her infant daughter along.

“There was a time when only women from high caste could be MPs. This election has changed that, and now it is up to the 191 women of various castes, groups, ethnicities in the constituent assembly to ensure that the rights of 12.5 million diverse Nepali women are protected,” Ms. Margar said.

Although having 33 percent women in the assembly has been a great victory, the presence of women is still scant, Ms. Magar said. “We are demanding 50 percent representation,” she said.

Sapana Pradhan Malla, who was nominated by the United Marxist Leninist Communist Party to the constituent assembly, said a large number of women in the parliament will not really make a difference if women-friendly policies are not made. “Our movement is not against men, it is against the oppressive behavior of Nepali patriarchal society, which may not change even if we have 300 women in the parliament,” Ms. Pradhan said.