We are the luckiest generation. Just to be optimistic, we have got an opportunity to our future. If we have got an opportunity to vote for our future, if we are able to emulate the American success, we will remain a stable nation and if the fate of French repeats, we will form CA five times.

I have in my life never cast a vote, not even for Free Students Union. I have always despised politicizing education, which has crated a mess in most of the prestigious universities of Nepal. Not that I loath democratic rights of students, but what I hate are the sister organization of political parties.

However, I am fervid about this election to choose a candidate and a party to voice my concern. Indirectly, I would be formulating the county's Supreme Laws for myself. Not only me, but also all members of my family and relatives are very enthusiastic about the poll. Two candidates are our relatives but luckily we are saved from making a choice, as they belong to different constituencies.

It is not clear, where on earth, the practice of adult franchise started for the first time. The West says Greeks had devised it and Romans followed. Concrete evidence of voting is also found in Buddha's time. Kapilvastu, a city in Nepal where Lord Buddha born was in fact a republic; the king was elected from among the heads of different tribes.

The Vedas too, hint on the practice of voting in those days and the exercise of democracy and republicanism. The word ' king' in the Hinduism has multiple meanings. It is used for head of unitary or federal government; governors or president of the state. To think that these terms came to us from the West is inanity, only that we had forgotten our roots. I have used the word Hinduism not as a religion but the civilization of the Aryans and non Aryans of Indian sub-continent.

Today, voting means political affiliation also. And when a candidate wins, his/her personality factor as well the party to which he/she belongs plays a role. In the US, a candidate is the sole factor and in UK, it is the parties the British vote. But what do Nepalese vote for, when they do, is it from their conscience? I wonder. Rarely the Nepali women, especially of rural areas use their mind, as they lack education.

My mother does not have political affiliation but my father was a leftist. Later he extricates himself from this ideology as he witnessed the tumbling of the Berlin Was and collapse of the USSR. Now he believes in freedom, democracy, and market-based economy. He influences us, his children. Our education and upbringing in the modern world have played a salient part in our thinking. But my poor mother; who does she vote for? It's clear this time that she will vote for her brother-in-law, but on those past parliamentary elections whom did she vote? I'm sure my papa helped her.

The literacy rate is very low amongst Nepali women and those mascara-donning (educated) women think politics is a dirty game. But voting is not solely about politics. Let's vote it's the best privilege the state give us.

Despite the killing of electoral candidates, frequent violations of the election code of conduct, mudslinging between leaders and clashes between cadres, all the political parties are busy knocking on the doors of voters. And they have also been promising that the election would be held in a free, fair and peaceful manner.

At the same time, human rights issues have been pushed forward to occupy a prominent place, in the election campaign. All the major parties, including the Seven Parties Alliance (SPL), have pledged to sustain peace, preserve the rule of law and project human rights. The attention being given to human rights by the candidates inspires hope that the Constituent Assembly Election will take measures to remedy the pattern of grave human rights abuses.

The manifestos of all the major parties agree that the widespread human rights violations should end. They have demonstrated the crucial role of human rights in rebuilding trust among all the Nepalese. People across the country are thinking of electing their own representatives who are likely to speak up for them when drafting a new constitution.

Thanks to voter education and such other awareness campaigns, the public is quite aware that the CA election is not parliamentary election. They know that the polls will elect a fresh body to write the country's constitution.

Nevertheless, the time has come to examine the political background, capability and, most importantly, the human rights records of the candidates. The state's efforts to deal with past injustices and human rights abuses should go together with the elections. The candidates, regardless of their public position, should prove that they have never been accused, charged, convicted, or interrogated with regard to any past human rights abuses.

In order to maintain lasting peace and consolidate the concept of the rule of law, the people's inherent right to life including other fundamental rights enshrined in national and international laws must be protected. Past injustices should not be forgotten without a proper investigation being done. People who were victimized during the conflict have not yet received justice.

The voters also have a duty not to elect candidates who are known to have violated human rights so that they cannot hold office in the state administration. The contestants should be required to sign an integrity pledge stating that they have not committed any human rights abuses or acts of corruption and nor will they do so in the future.

Numbers of commissions like the Rayamajhi Commissions and the judiciary have indicated various persons for committing human rights abuses and asked the government to dismiss them from their posts and initiate action against them. Even then, these people are not only enjoying state protection, they have the nerve to stand in the election.

There is always a need for political commitment. Democracy's strength depends on the capacity of the political parties and the civil society to be effective organs of political and economic development. The issue of creating anew Nepal seems to be the prime agenda of all the political parties. But they are fighting among themselves and disrupting each other's election campaigns. They could have reached a consensus on the mater of new Nepal insisted of thrashing and killing each other. Their behavior provides opportunities for anti national forces to try to derail the peace process and the CA polls.

Efficient and fair institutions that enjoy civic trust are needed to create a new Nepal. For that to happen, candidates for the CA must be elected based on their human rights background. This will help to achieve the objective of forming an effective and legitimate transitional justice policy. If human rights violators were to be elected to the CA, it would be an endorsement of their criminal behavior.

Restoring law and order is a precondition for institutional, political, and economic development. To facilitate the move to democracy and the rule of law, people who have been proven to be responsible for human rights violations should be removed. Such action is crucial to making the constitution drafting process a success. The delay in revealing past injustices have jeopardized the endeavor to establish a new and just Nepal. And it will be great candidates.