The nation became a federal state with three tiers of government in place after the promulgation of the 2015 constitution. However, the concept of and initial enthusiasm for federalism has gradually started fading away and getting negative feedback from the common people, who seem to be totally unhappy with the performance and relevancy of the second tier of government. In fact, federalism is a political system based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power to govern is shared among the national, provincial and local governments. However, this practice of sharing and devolving power and authority, especially between the federal and provincial governments does not seem to be appropriately working thus making the second tier of government dysfunctional.
Furthermore, the frequent changes inviting political uncertainty in the provincial governments and unbearable administrative expense have posed a significant challenge and serious threat to the continuation and stability of federal structure “Deadline extended for government formation in Sudurpaschim” (THT, April 17, Page 1). During the last 10 years following the 2017 and 2022 elections, major political parties and their senior leaders are found to be completely engaged in a blame game and opportunistic politics by forming and dismantling coalition governments, undermining the national agenda and the people’s dream of seeing political stability and a prosperous nation “Forceful adjournment of the Parliament: Conflicting political and moral consequence” (THT, April 17, Page 1). Political critics opine that they seemed to be fully occupied and surrounded by the land, education and medical mafias and black marketers, who are holding financial strings and pushing the nation towards an economic crisis.
To me, it is natural for the people to raise their voices for reconverting the nation back into a Hindu state and reinstating constitutional monarchy, if the federalism fails to address their aspirations. And, I can see such voices are getting stronger by the day just looking closely at the recent mass protests being held in the capital city.