Nepal is heading to the polls in less than two years. Voters will choose their representatives for three tiers of government – the local, provincial, and federal – which will shape Nepal’s political course until the early 2030s. As the election timeline approaches, Nepal’s political scene is slowly heating up, with political parties forming fluid alliances, striving to reclaim lost ground, and rolling out fresh campaign tactics.
This may seem like a regular democratic exercise for the Himalayan nation, but beyond the political hubbub, a pressing challenge looms large. Elections in Nepal are becoming increasingly expensive with each passing cycle, thereby threatening inclusive democracy and raising concerns about the future of political participation.
Political campaigning in Nepal, like all other South Asian countries, requires massive financial resources. Candidates must mobilize cadres, organize rallies, conduct door-to-door campaigns, arrange for media coverage, and now also compete in the fast-expanding digital sphere. All of this comes at a heavy price. This rising campaign cost does more than financially strain party resources and that of the individuals contesting elections. It has rather profound consequences, limiting the political participation of women and underrepresented groups.
The Nepali Constitution mandates at least one-third of seats for women candidates with proportional representation quotas across all levels of government. As a result of these progressive mandates, women hold 33.5 percent of seats in the House of Representatives, 37.3 percent in the National Assembly, and 41 percent in the local level. This is higher than the South Asian average, where women’s parliamentary representation hovers around 17 percent.
These numbers demonstrate that robust legal provisions can significantly increase the representation of women in elected bodies. Numbers alone, however, do not guarantee power. Women in Nepal continue to face systemic barriers in politics, particularly in accessing political campaign finance, affecting their ability to compete equally with men.
The rising cost of election campaigns has turned women’s political careers into fragile one-time opportunities. In the absence of steady access to funding and networks, few are able to contest again or transition from quota-based positions to directly elected leadership roles.
Research shows women face significant barriers in both re-election bids and new candidacies, with fewer first-time entrants and higher dropout rates. One study showed a decline in women’s representation in 2022 as compared to 2017, with women staying below 5 percent in key roles and dropping nearly 20 percentage points in deputy mayor positions. A woman representative at the local level shared that she had entered politics in 2017 through the constitutional quota, using her savings and support from family and friends to fund her campaign. Five years later, she was burdened with debt and could not gather enough money to run again. Her story is not unique. It reflects the broader reality faced by many Nepali women who manage to enter politics but are soon pushed out because of financial barriers.
Studies reconfirm these boarder patterns. A 2022 study found that women candidates in Nepal face greater difficulty raising campaign funds than men, due to disparities in income, property ownership, and access to networks. As per the 2021 census, 74.6 percent of women do not have any fixed assets, leaving them at structural disadvantage. Male candidates in contrast can draw on personal wealth, family resources, informal funding, and networks. The study further noted that many women fund their campaigns mostly from personal savings or donations and some enter politics already in debt. Other women depended on male party powerbrokers, thus limiting their political independence.
Women’s representation in politics is further exacerbated by the rise in pre-election coalitions, a trend largely common in Nepali politics since the 2017 elections. Coordinated political arrangements among political parties to mobilize support have intensified competition for “winnable seats” and reinforced a strong preference for financially resourceful candidates. Women candidates and young aspirants rarely meet these requirements. This has resulted in an unequal playing field.
As the cost of elections rises, parties are less willing to back female candidates, deepening their exclusion from politics and reinforcing gendered patterns of political marginalization.
Nepal is not alone in struggling with women’s political participation. Countries across South Asia face a similar situation. Women often have limited access to resources either to seek party nominations, run an election, or even secure resources necessary for a sustained political career. Lack of transparency and effective regulation in campaign spending has made the problem worse in nascent democracies. As politics becomes increasingly monetized, competition is based on financial strength rather than the political vision or the ability to lead.
Women’s limited access to campaign finance also has policy consequences. High election campaign cost pushes candidates to resort to dubious funding sources with vested interests, and gives wealthier candidates political dominance. Addressing this challenge requires stronger institutional mechanisms to regulate campaign spending. But the reality is that current caps and reporting rules exist largely in theory rather than in practice.
The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) has limited campaign spending to 3.5 million Nepali rupees (about $26,000) for federal parliamentary candidates and 1.5 million rupees (about $11,000) for provincial assembly races. On paper, these limits are designed to limit excessive spending and create a more level playing field among candidates. In practice, however, weak enforcement makes them almost meaningless. Candidates normally exceed these limits without significant consequences. The gap between the formal rules and actual practice shows declining fairness and structural weakness in Nepal’s democratic system.
Nepal’s upcoming elections are more than a domestic contest – they are a test of how young democracies can battle the growing monetization of politics. Nearly half of Nepal’s young electorate are women and public frustration due to rising corruption and inefficiency of political parties is mounting. Nepal faces a pivotal choice. It can repeat the patterns of earlier elections where women filled quota seats but remained sidelined from leadership while money outweighed competence, or it can make bold reforms to ensure women have the same resources, visibility, and political influence as their male counterparts.
For women to succeed in politics, three urgent shifts are necessary. First, political parties must stop treating gender quotas as a box-ticking exercise. Second, Nepal must amend its campaign finance system to level the playing field. Third, Nepal should promote a political culture where money does not decide who gets elected. By limiting the influence of money and empowering women through campaign reform and digital access, the 2027 elections could become a turning point for Nepal and other emerging democracies. The real test hinges on whether Nepal strengthens its democracy or allows the rising cost of campaigning to undermine the promise of inclusive political representation.