He argued that federalism in Nepal is economically unviable, socially divisive and politically problematic.[break]
"Nepal´s economy is still heavily dependent on foreign aid and we have failed to bring about infrastructural development needed for one central parliament, a single government and the institution of head of state," Nepal, who became minister on many occasons in the past, told Republica. "How can our economy bear the weight of expenses needed for several chief ministers, governors, parliaments and governments in such numbers?"
He claimed that the economy will not be able to manage the expenses needed even for day-to-day, basic administrative work if "any form of federalism is imposed" on the country.
Nepal said federalism has already been proved unsuitable in terms of social perspective. "Because it has already deeply divided society along ethnic lines even before its implementation. So federalism is definitely going to be a failure in our case," he claimed.
From a political perspective, according to him, a federal setup would further complicate the situation. Stating that Nepali leaders who have failed to run even the central government in an institutional, democratic and stable manner are certain to create a mess with provincial and local governments when it comes to enjoying state powers and facilities.
Asked if it was possible to back out of past commitments to transform the country from a unitary to a federal setup, Nepal argued that it was not a big deal stopping the country from entering into federalism because this country has never been federated.
He also doesn´t see any need for holding a referendum to determine if the people want federalism or not. He claimed that it was already clearly evident that the Nepali people have rejected it.
These remarks by an influential UML leader have come at a time when his party´s central committee last week endorsed a seven-province model for federalism. The party has said that the provinces should be given mixed names on the basis of the identities of two dominant ethnic communities in a given province and a neutral name, such as Bagmati-Newa-Tamsaling, and they should be delineated accordingly.
Various groups within the party airing divergent views on federalism have registered separate notes of dissent against the party´s proposal. While some have stood against naming the provinces after ethnic identities, some others have demanded that the provinces must be delineated along ethnic lines.
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