NDI/IRG: Roundtable for Visiting Delegation of Political Party Leaders from the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Members of the IRG Board of Directors hosted a delegation of senior party leaders from the Federal Republic of Nepal. The Nepalese politicians visited the US to expose senior party leaders to issues related to party organization, voter outreach, policy development, the importance of data and research, transparency and the inclusion of marginalized groups, women and youth in the political process. The study mission was an opportunity for the party leaders to develop a comparative understanding of the way that political parties in the United States are structured, organized and operate and to internalize those lessons within their own parties in Nepal. Through funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), NDI has ongoing support programs in Nepal with the participating parties and will facilitate the adoption of lessons learned when they return to Nepal.
The delegation comprised eight delegation members from four parties. Four members were from the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and one from Samajbadi (Socialist) Party Nepal (SPN), who formed a coalition government following the federal parliamentary elections, which were held over two phases in November and December 2017. The other three participants were from two opposition parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN). RJPN and SP are smaller parties who garnered approximately five percent of the vote each in the 2017 parliamentary elections and mostly have regional support in the southern plains of Nepal. NCP and NC are major established parties, who secured 58 percent and 25 percent of the vote respectively, and their support is spread out across the country.
The group was visiting D.C. for a week and was be supported by local staff from NDI-Nepal and NDI/DC. Members of the delegation were senior leaders within their respective parties, many of whom have previously held senior government positions and are currently members of parliament.
Photos from the event are available on IRG's Flickr page here.