Step-by-step explanation:
1. Background:
After 10 years armed conflict and 19 days people's movement, Nepal has entered to the
phase of making a new constitution. It is evident that new constitution will not only be a
democratic, also will be federal and inclusive too. Though the idea of federalism was mooted in
Nepal around the 1990s when Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 was framed, but at
that time it got no importance. Establishment of the multi-party democracy, and parliamentary
system were the major political issue of that time. Nepal has been exercising a unitary and
centralized system for more than 240 years. During this period rulers always preferred to the
concentration of power and opposed to every effort of the devolution of power. During
Panchayat and Parliamentary period decentralization was adopted as the constitutional provision
but no sincere efforts were made to implement such provisions. Even the legal instruments like
Local Self-Government Act were not properly used to implement the provision made in the
constitution.
The successful completion of the Second People's movement brought two basic issues to
the fore. That was Republic and Federalism. The constitutional amendments made after
constituent assembly elections declared Nepal a Federal Republic. Now a vast majority of the
people stands infavour of these provisions. As its result, 240 year old monarchy is abolished by
the parliament and country is involved in to the debate what sort of federal structure is to be
adopted for Nepal? In regard to this issue many diverse views prevail in Nepalese politics. This
paper is intended to throw light on the issues and challenges to proposed federalism in Nepal.
2. Notion of Federalism:
Federalism is a territorial distribution of power based on the sharing of sovereignty
between central (usually national) bodies and peripheral ones. The term federalism was
originated from the Latin term "foedus" means unions.1
Federalism is based on the assumption
that its constituent parts are to a considerable degree self organized and self managed. The
generally common structural characteristics of federations, as a specific form of federal political
systems are the following;
- - at least two orders of government, one for the whole federation and the other for the
- regional units, each acting directly on its citizens;
- - a formal constitutional distribution of legislative and executive authority and
- allocation of revenue resources between the two orders of government ensuring some
- areas of genuine autonomy for each other;
- - provisions for the designated representation of distinct regional views within the
- federal policy-making institutions, usually provided by the particular form of the
- federal second chamber;
- - a supreme written constitution not unilaterally amendable and requiring the consent
- for amendments of a significant proportion of the constituent units;
- - an umpire (in the form of courts, provisions for referendums, or an upper house with
- special powers);