Explainer: Nepal's Rocky Road to Federalism

Abstract

Nepal is a least developed, land-locked Himalayan country wedged between India and China. After a long period of instability, Nepal adopted a new Constitution in 2015, creating a multi-party federal republic. Previously Nepal had been a unitary state, albeit with a long period of political instability and insurgencies. The first election under the new Constitution was held in 2017, with the most recent being held on 20 November 2022, when elections were held simultaneously for all three levels of the Federation. Expectations from the new government are high.<br/> Since 2017 the country has struggled to implement federalism. The party which ruled until July 2021 was unstable. Politicians and public servants at the centre appeared not to understand the operation of a federal system fully. The then Prime Minister and most of the political and administrative elites, all Kathmandu-based, clearly preferred a centralized system.