CALL FOR FEDERALISM
Federalism For Nepal: The Only Solution
Nepal saw the advent of multi-party democracy and a constitutional monarchy in 1990. Since then it has seen massive corruption, unstable governments, a full fledged civil war waged by the Maoists, and, recently, a rather activist monarchy. Many expectations of the population have been unmet. While the civil war has seen a momentary halt, the parliament stays dissolved, the constitution is in limbo, and the major political parties have been continuously agitating against the royal palace.
As to wether the king will give away his powers and agree to a republic through table talk with the Maoists is less than a speculation. The monarch, since ascending the throne, has shown signs to the reverse, a penchant for more, not less, power. I personally am for a republic, but only if that is the peaceful result of the desire of the people as expressed through their representatives, possibly through some kind of a Constituent Assembly. As to wether the Maoists will revive the war is not for sure, but that might be an undesirable bloody showdown.
Amidst this confusion might lie seeds of hope. And from the current mess might arise a new constitution. It might or might not give birth to a republic, but I sure hope it introduces federalism into Nepal. That might be the only way out for the centuries old grievances of the various ethnicities in the country, be it the Madhesis of the Terai, or the Janajatis of the Hills.
The Kathmandu-based elites might stand to lose from such an introduction in relative terms, and so naturally they might oppose it. But then democracy itself did not come forth easily.
An argument might be made that Nepal is too small for federalism. That is not the case. It might be sandwiched between more than a billion Chinese in the north, and over a billion Indians in the south, and thus might look small, but so it is not. Over three quarters of the countries are smaller populations than Nepal.
Federalism might also be the answer to the impending torrents of globalization. As power shifts from the corridors of Singha Durbar to the various venues of global trade talks, so must it shift to the various parts of the country, so the local peoples feel more in control in an increasingly mobile world.
And so it might be a good idea to have five states: Eastern Terai, Western Terai, Eastern Hills, Western Hills, and Greater Kathmandu.
Strong regions do not weaken the nation: quite the opposite.
Paramendra Bhagat
