Federalism: Questions and Issue of Relevance for Nepal

Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution, 2009

Many studies have been conducted on the causes and consequences of Nepal's conflict. Given the current peace, proposals on federal restructuring, mostly based on ethnic subdivisions of the country, are rife. Federal restructuring of the country, it is believed, will be instrumental in power sharing and peace in the long run. It is also believed that federalism will promote inclusive development by granting political autonomy to states (regions) and assuring proportional and fair representation of all ethnic/sub-cultural groups in future governments and other decision-making organs of the state. However, it is not yet clear what kind of federalism this multi-ethnic country will have. Many analysts see federal restructuring of the country as an over-ambitious and challenging task for Nepal. There is also a fear that any hurried decision in this direction may further intensify the underlying conflict and ultimately cause the disintegration of the country. Furthermore, economic issues like revenue and expenditure sharing and resource mobilization are not fully spelled out by the proponents of federalism. This paper suggests an alternative basis for federal restructuring of the nation, which promotes longterm development and sustainable peace.

2020

This paper emphasizes on the opportunities of federalism which Nepal has recently undertaken after the promulgation of Constitution of Nepal, 2015 (2072) followed by formation of government at all three tiers viz. federal, provincial and local level and focusses on challenges it has to face walking through twists and turns. Nepal is an underdeveloped country with diverse geography, ethnic groups, linguistic groups and various political parties. Poverty, regional imbalance, improper infrastructure and unemployment remain Nepal's major problems. The federalism with how relevantly it is associated to democracy has been explored in the paper simultaneously addressing how disparities caused by class, caste, ethnicity, language, religion, region and gender be attenuated. This paper tries to diagnose the impact of federalism, for which to fruitfully grow into a baby from zygote, Nepal needs to address upon.

Forum of EthnoGeoPolitics, 2013

Nepal has been witnessing a historic political transition over the past few years. The monarchy had been abolished and so had the unitary state structure and the state's association with the Hindu religion, which were the fundamental characteristics of the Nepali state since her formation. In the place of the Hindu constitutional monarchical unitary kingdom, the country was declared a federal, democratic, secular and republican state by the first meeting of an elected Constituent Assembly (CA) held on 28 May 2008.

Journal of National Development

Nepal was enduring with a perpetuating conflict due to class, ethnic, linguistic, regional and other discrimination created by a unitary and centralized state structure. Regional autonomy, identity, decentralization of power and preserving the right of minorities were major demands of the movements. The political change of 2006 along with the restoration of democracy built the strong ground for the federalism in Nepal. After this, the state promulgated a new federal constitution on 20 September 2015. The regional, ethnic and class conflicts are being managed with the implementation of the federalism. In federalism, the rights of minorities get preserved than in the unitary system of government. The provision of right of the minorities in the central, provincial and local level helps the assurance of their right. While the governing community does not behave with justice the minorities may demand for separate region, so they are alert for well being of the minorities. Thus federalism is considered to be one of the most important tools for establishment of peace. In this article I argue that the federal system has played an important role for conflicts resolution in Nepal which was active since decades. A major and common demand of various conflicts in Nepal was autonomy which is assured by the federalism. Protection of minorities' rights, recognition of all linguistics, ethnic, religious, minorities' identity and power sharing from central to local level through constitution has led to the long felt conflicts towards solution. Thus, federalism has played the vital role for power-sharing and assuring the autonomy for minorities groups in Nepal. It seems to be important tool for the ending Maoist, ethnic and regional movements in Nepal.

Forum of Federations, 2022

The recognition of linguistic diversity is one of the major elements in the institutionalization of federalism in multilingual countries (Mitra 2001; Smith 2008). In such states, as in other countries with linguistically diverse populations, it is a strenuous but not impossible task to develop and implement multilingual policies to address the aspirations, voices, and identities of different communities (Cloonan and Strine, 1991). This task is more critical—at both the ideological and implementational levels—in Nepal. In this country, monolingual nationalism has shaped the state’s language policy for more than two centuries—in part because of the “importation of ideologies” (Awasthi 2008). Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent updates on the constitutionalization and implementation of a multilingual policy in a federal Nepal.

2021

Nepal practiced a centralized unitary governing system for long and has gone through the federal system after the promulgation of the new constitution on 20 September 2015. There is a big paradigm shift in terms of governance after it. Now, there are three levels of governments, one federal government in the center, seven provincial governments and 753 local governments. Federalism refers to a political governing system with multiple tiers of government working together with coordination. It is preferred for self and shared rule. Though it has opened the door for rights of the people, political stability, state restructuring, and sustainable peace and development, there are many prospects and challenges for its proper implementation. This research analyzes the discourses of federalism implementation in Nepal with special reference to one of seven provinces, Gandaki. Federalism is a new phenomenon in Nepali politics and informed debates on it are required for its right evolution. Thi...

Telegraph Weekely, 2011

The Limbuwan State comprises 27 per cent Limbus, who make up 1.58 per cent of the national population. There are just 24 Koch populations in Kochila State. Kirat State is also a minority federal state, with 26 per cent of Rai and Limbu. The 5.5 per cent Newars are still in the minority , with 35 per cent in their native Kathmandu valley. The rapid urbanization of Kathmandu may have reduced the Newars to around 22 per cent. The Tamang comprises just 30 per cent of the population of the Maoist-proposed Tamang-Saling State. The Gurungs are in the minority (27 per cent) in the Tamuwan State. Magars, with 7.1 per cent of the state’s population, are again in the minority, with 28 per cent in the Maoist-proposed Magrat state. There have been separate state demands for Mithila, Bhojpura, and Awadh, and 'One Madhes One Pradesh'. It is to be remarked that about 75 per cent of Mithila lies in India and about 78 per cent of Kochila in West Bengal. If they become autonomous states with the right to self-determination, do Mithila and Kochila Rajya remain in Nepal? This million-dollar worth question has not yet been satisfactorily answered.

Molung Educational Frontier

It is assumed that the main aspect of the Constitution of Nepal promulgated on September 20, 2015 is the transfer of power from central/federal to the provincial and local government. However, the devolution process has not been satisfactorily experienced as had been expected when it was promulgated by the overwhelming majority of the then Constituent Assembly. One of the reasons for this slow progress might be some confusion and/ or problem in matters of power sharing between different levels of governments. So, the primary objective of the researcher is to review the power sharing modality existing in the new constitution on different sectors and areas of the state machinery. This paper focuses on the federal structure, demography, power sharing between the provincial and local level, opportunities and challenges of federalism in Nepal. It argues that the restructuring initiatives have not been successful in minimizing the political, social, economic, regional and ethnic inequalit...

Nepal has been serious about establishing Federal model of constitution therein since there last movement for democracy, and especially after 2006 when the monarchy was completely thrown over, leaving zero scope for monarchial restoration there in Nepal. Of course it was a common agenda of all political parties therein and to greater extent it might be the willingness of external actors, but has happened after 2006 in Nepal in the name of finalization of the Constitution and formulation of federal model was not healthier. Besides, it was either more cautiousness or hyper sensitivity towards it that there happened a mass up and downs in politics, beginning with majority of Maovadies in first election and the crowning Prachanda as the Prime Minister of Nepal; and later thrown up of the same party to opposition status and bringing of Nepali Congress and UML coalition in power. As a result the country suffered for more than 9 years to get a constitution, which has been implemented on 20 th Sept. 2015 therein. The marathon for constitutional drafting and delineating federal territories was complicated by the political parties themselves, and whatever has been formulated is again seem to be tentative as it again not able to satisfy public grievances, especially that of Madhesies. It is essentially to mention that the adopted federal territories are more or less the same of Development Regions with some changes therein and creating a total 7 federal units in Democratic Federal state of Nepal. The implemented constitution is a sort of political compromise to fulfill their personal greed and not the public needs.