Quotable quota

A European Union (EU) mission has asked Nepal to not allocate Proportional Representation seats for the Khas-Arya community, arguing that it is already well-represented and does not need reservation.

Unveiling its final report on the three tiers of polls that Nepal held last year, the European Union Election Mission presented its final report on Tuesday in Kathmandu saying a quota for a well-represented community is against international principles of equality. The mission said that affirmative action should be taken only in reserving quotas for under-represented communities.

Nepal’s new Constitution has guaranteed the higher caste Khas-Arya people’s representation in proportion to their population. Election laws therefore require political parties to ensure representation of at least 31.2% Khas-Arya in Parliament.

There was angry reaction in social media to the EU statement from politicians and intellectuals belonging to the Khas-Arya cluster, while others agreed that the group did not need affirmative action. Unofficial translations of some Twitter posts in Nepali: