About speaker: Kåre Vollan is from Norway and has been advising on electoral systems, democracy, constitutions and laws for over ten years in a number of countries and territories including Kenya, Iraq, Palestine, Nepal, Sudan, Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 2007 to present he has been advising the Election Commission of Nepal on election law, electoral procedures and quotas implementation. From May 1999 to November 2000 Vollan was Deputy Head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina responsible for organising the two elections held in 2000. In the period 1996 to 2005 he headed eleven OSCE Office of Democratic Initiatives and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation missions, in 1995-96 he led the Norwegian observation mission to the Palestinian elections and in March 2002 he was head of the Norwegian election observation mission to Zimbabwe. From 2003 to 2009 he has issued opinions on election laws for the Council of Europe Venice Commission. Vollan, who is a mathematician by profession, has published a number of articles and reports on electoral and decision making issues.
I. Major Issues Presented
• Only First Past the Post electoral system was practiced in Nepal before 2008. There was no quota other than those parties had requirement for women candidates but nothing on the result.
• Women, Madhesi, Dalit and Janajati were under represented and Brahmin Chhetri were over represented in every election held in Nepal before 2008.
• The quotas were established from the census 2001 on the list PR part of the election.
• 240 CA members were elected from first past the post system, 335 from list PR and 26 appointees were to fill up the janajati groups which did not have representation or were not elected. Only two representatives from Lepcha and Tajpuriya groups were appointed as CA members.
• There are still 17 groups who do not have representation in the Constituent Assembly.
• CA is more inclusive than any parliament has been before; it is a drastic radical change from before.
• Women and Dalit are still under represented in the Constituent Assembly.
• Since this notion of proportional representation of all groups in society was there, it was not just an affirmative action of those people who would otherwise be excluded; it was also a total division of everybody.
• According to the concept paper of Legislative Committee there will be two chambers of parliament. The house of representative which is the principal chamber should have 151 seats. 76 will be elected by first past the post and 75 by list PR.
• In National Assembly there will be 38 representatives elected from provinces in equal numbers and 13 representatives will be elected by House of Representatives under an STV system.
• Maoist proposal is the majority proposal. They have proposed unicameral parliament and effective president directly elected in so called two round system.
• Legislature is elected in multi member constituencies. Maoists call it as truly proportional system. But in all electoral terminology it is not proportional at all; it is first past the post.
• Nepali Congress and Nepal Communist Party (UML) proposals are in favor of two chambers and indirectly elected president. They keep 151 members in the parliament elected under mixed system. There is change from parallel system to multi member proportional system.
• The minority proposal of Terai Madhes Democratic Party says that the House of Representatives is elected according to first past the post with quotas but there is no direction of how that should be done. Quotas in first past the post seems extremely complicated. National Assembly is elected on the basis of list PR.
• In the provinces, Maoist proposed 90% from multi member constituencies by first past the post and quotas and 10% appointed by provincial chief upon recommendation from the parties.
• There seems to be agreement at local level that 70 % should be elected in multi member constituencies first past the post and 30 % in list PR.
• Maoists are calling multi member constituencies as truly proportional system but in electoral terminology it is first past the post system where the winner takes all. It is proportional along the ethnic class, group dimension but it is not proportional along the political dimension.
• In international human rights standard also subscribed by Nepal it is said that everybody should have equal right to vote and to stand for election. In the multi member constituencies system, if you don’t have group or other applicants people will be deprived of the right to stand for election.
II. Questions and Answers
Q: To end the drawback of the mixed electoral system and make the representatives more responsible, United Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) has proposed multi member constituencies electoral system which ensures the proportional representation of all class, region, castes, gender and excluded groups in the state power. How would you comment on this system?
A: I do not understand the reason for the Maoist proposal. It could of course be other reasons as well that the party thinks that they benefit from the system which is legitimate vote for politicians. That gives you warning that everybody should not only think about election result first and also what will happen if the election result changes. To give more inclusive and more accountable, if that is the purpose, things can be done without going that extreme or without having the same side effects where one party will be totally dominant. One of the issues with the list PR system in this context is very unusual arrangement that the party leaders can choose and fill the seats after the election. In most countries with those bases the list of right in quota, if you got number fifteen on that list you could entertain your constituency that if you vote for UML I am likely to be elected and with much more confidence you would say vote for UML is also vote for me. But if you are just somewhere you have no idea who is going to be elected afterwards. It is little bit open situation. The obvious remedy is to say this PR also has to have everybody informed who is going to be elected from the party. Then there is strong accountability. One of the things the Maoist party thinks is actually that everybody is elected in constituencies and therefore the accountability is much more.
Q: On your international experiences how could the future electoral system work in Nepal when the political system and form of governance are not decided?
A: There is close connection with the structure of state and parliament and electoral system and I would not say Yes or No. For the principal Chamber of Parliament you could discuss that almost under any other systems. I don’t think if you choose presidential system that will have direct effect on the electoral system for the principal chamber but the Upper Chamber of course has very much to do with federal system. I would like to see federal system laid out first. The presidential or parliamentary system has also to do with legislative process. What is the power of two Chambers? Are they parallel or can Lower House force legislation after it has gone to the Upper House being reviewed sent back? Can the Lower Chamber forward to? Can the president deny assent or the law? All these things are interconnected. We can discuss the electoral system for the Lower Chamber or unicameral Chamber. If you have same that the Upper Chamber is monitoring everybody you don’t need quotas in Lower Chamber. I think Nepal is beyond that. I do believe that Nepal can’t step back from having quotas in principal Chamber.
Q: Which electoral system will be suitable for Nepal in addressing all the existing issues and problems?
A: I am not going to tell you the best system. I am just saying the mixed system and proportional system in constituencies are both valid good systems internationally. They can be used.
Q: We have difficulty in making all 103 groups represented. How do you take inclusive candidacy for first past the post electoral system instead of proportional or mixed electoral system?
A: Yes you have 103 castes and groups. If you want to have proper democratic election where the voters’ thought also the most important it is extremely difficult to combine that with quotas for 103 groups. But if you are able to group that into something more reasonable I think that needs discussion. Then the question is was it reasonable last time? Or could something to Dalit to help even more in marginalized excluded groups? I think it is possible to help excluded groups more than last time. My solution will not be to force representation for hundred and three groups. I think that will be practically very difficult. But I don’t think you proposed that.
Q: How long do we need to go for affirmative action in Nepal?
A: I don’t know the duration of affirmative action to be taken in Nepal. Things seem to stick. India has been practicing since last 60 years. The purpose of affirmative action would of course be to that in the end the all will be equal whether you are Brahmin or Dalit. But other hand if you bring some rights it is not easy to give it up.
Q: We are making our elections more complex. How can we be able to handle such new electoral system?
A : The complexity for the voters should not be competitive for the voters. Last time it was moderate. There were two ballets. Some people did not use two ballets. Some gave two crosses because they believed they had to caste two votes. There were few invalid votes but not tremendously. I think it was adequate. If the ballets were to be filled in different ways it would have become very complicated. The quotas are mainly challenge for parties and election commission plus of course public who wants to understand the system. The Election Commission and even parties had really very tough time to put up the correct list. That is why I am saying to make it simple. I am not so much worried about the counting of votes.
Q: How can we end the difference between proportional representatives and directly elected representatives and also ensuring inclusive representation?
A: If you are worried about for example the accountability is not good for everybody, you can either rank list or you can actually have multi member constituencies with list PR when you have lots more direct connection between the voters and those elected even list PR. As long as it is clear who will take the seats if the party wins. Pluralism in term of ideology is also important. That is why I am saying don’t have a system where the biggest party wins all the seats.
Q: Both first past the post and mixed electoral systems are not suitable for inclusive representation. So, we went for multi member constituencies system. How do you take this system?
A: I do understand the background for the Maoist proposal and call for more accountability. It has side effects if you need it with nationalized without having being in Nepal ever you could read that proposal as list proportional system with quotas. But I don’t think it what is meant. It is meant actually as in different places what you say election commission can do that but it is really difficult to do simple solution.
Q: Which political system presidential or parliamentary system is suitable for Nepal?
A: I am not going to answer that. That is very political issue and subject needs to be worked out. You have both examples. But I can say that the Maoist proposal of presidential system is unusual. Because if I understand it correctly they proposed to have a government composed of all parties in a proportional way, so it is all parties are in cabinet according to their composition of the parliament. Switzerland has something similar to that. That is not very common. The common thing is either as you said one with the highest 51% of the parliament forms government, or in presidential system the president is actually selecting his/ her cabinet. The Maoist system is much more common at lower levels. At municipal level you have many benefits where the executive is composed of proportional representation from the council or municipality.
Q: What are the weak points of the multi member electoral system?
A: Winner takes all.
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