State Restructuring and Power Sharing: Issues of Contemporary Times 2019-05-13

Variant structures of states Equal Federal Structures (states): USA, Australia, Germany, South Africa Unequal Federal Structures (States): India (J&K, Sikkim), Canada (Quebec) Autonomous regions in Unitary State: China Regional Political Strutures: Srilanka, United Kingdom Decentralized Local Structures: Norwey, Sweden, Denmark Nepal?? © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Concept of federalism Federalism is a type of government in which the power is divided between the national government and other governmental units. Federalism contrasts with a unitary government, in which a central authority holds the power, and a confederation, a more or less permanent union of states with some or most political power vested in a central authority. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/american-government/federalism/concepts-of-federalism © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Concept of federalism A flexible form of state organisation, it pre-determines only very few aspects. A way politics is done – a way of thinking and acting: Power in the hands of many instead of in the hand of few. In most cases, developed pragmatically © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Concept of federalism The classical federations: Confederation & Federation (federation by aggregation) New federations: from Unitary State to Federal State (federation by disaggregation) © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Principles of Federalism Basically 2 principles: Coming together (Federation by aggregation) Independent or autonomous states, entities coming together to form a more robust and powerful federation. USA, EU are the examples. Holding together (federation by de-aggregation) Restructuring the unitary form of a nation into several states/provinces and distributing governance authority. India, Belgium, Spain and Nepal the examples. In addition "Principle of Diversity Management" is also taken as principle of federalism. © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Definition "Federal political systems" is a descriptive term applying to a broad category of political systems in which, by contrast to the single source of central authority in unitary systems, there are two (or more) levels of government, and combining elements of shared-rule through common institutions with regional self-rule through the constituent units. This broad category encompasses a whole spectrum of more specific non-unitary forms including "federations" and "confederations" Ronald Watts (1929-2015) In more simpler terms it is a combination of shared rule (for common purposes), and sub-national/local self rule (for specific purposes). © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Deciding on Federalism Constitutional Guarantee Self-rule Autonomy of Federal Units (Provinces/Local Level) Internal Organisation of Federal Units Exclusive Powers Resources Shared Rule Political institutions at national and sub-national level (representation)-Councils Execution of Concurrent Powers Interaction Concurrent and Shared Powers Fiscal equalisation Coordination and Control Dispute Resolution © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Federalism in Nepal Declared as a Democratic Federal Republic by the Interim Costitution-2063 BS. Federal constitution promulgated on 03 Ashoj 2072 BS (20 Sept 2015) © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Lalitpur Metropolitan City Federal System Federation Province#3 Lalitpur Metropolitan City Coordination Cooperation Coexistence © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Constitution of Nepal In order to fulfill the aspirations for perpetual peace, good governance, development and prosperity through the medium of federal democratic republican system of governance, hereby promulgate this Constitution through the Constituent Assembly. © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Why Nepal requires state restructuring? Establishing rights Recognizing voices Sharing resources Enlargnig/Expanding choices © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Why Nepal requires state restructuring? State restructuring is something that is directly associated with political re-imagination of the state as per the spirit of the time and is a continuous process in democracy © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Sectors of Restructuring Political Administrative Social/Cultural Fiscal What it means in Nepal? © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

What is the definition of state of Nepal? ax'hftLo, ax'eflifs, ax'wfld{s, ax';f+:s[lts ljz]iftfo'Qm, ef}uf]lns ljljwtfdf /x]sf ;dfg cfsf+Iff / g]kfnsf] /fli6«o :jtGqtf, ef}uf]lns cv08tf, /fli6«o lxt tyf ;d[l4k|lt cf:yfjfg /xL Pstfsf] ;"qdf cfa4 ;a} g]kfnL hgtf ;dli6df /fi6« xf] -wf/f #_ © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Criteria or bases A. Identity: Ethnicity/community (जातीय/समुदायगत) Language (भाषिक) Culture (सांस्कृतिक) Historical continuity (ऐतिहासिक निरन्तरता) Geographic continuity (भौगोलिक/क्षेत्रगत निरन्तरता) © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Criteria or bases B. Capability: Economic inter-dependence/capability (आर्थिक अन्तरसम्बन्ध र सामर्थ्य) Status of infrastructures and their viability (पूर्वाधार विकासको अवस्था र सम्भावना) Availability of natural resource (प्राकृतिक साधन र स्रोतको उपलब्धता) Administrative accessibility (प्रशासनिक सुगमता) © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Power Sharing in Nepal Principles Organization/sharing of Power Cooperation vs. Competition Separation vs. Balance of Power Horizontal power sharing : power sharing between the three organs of government (legislative, executive and judiciary) Vertical power sharing : sharing state power between different territorial layers of government (federal, state, and local levels) © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

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clwsf/ tyf sfo{x?sf] afF8kmfF8sf] l;4fGtx? k|b]zsf sfo{{x?M ;+ljwfgdf Joj:yf ePsf Psn tyf ;femf clwsf/x? k|fb]lzs gLlt tyf lgodgx? k|fb]lzs dfkb08 tf]Sg] cg'udg tyf d"Nof+sg cg';Gwfg tyf gljgd\td k|ljlwsf] ljsf; k|fb]lzs tYof+s cGt/lgsfo ;dGjo ;+3Lo tyf :yfgLo ;/sf/nfO{ k|Zff;sLo tyf ;]jf k|jfxsf] nflu cfjZos Joj:yfx? © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

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Key Issues Whether the restructured governments are symmetric? Or assymetric? Symmetry of functions assigned to asymmetry of governments Are all provinces symmetric? Are the local governments symmetric? Tila Gufa Municipality (Kalikot) vs. Dhulikhel Municipality (Kavre) Lahan Municipality (Siraha) vs. Putalibazar Municipality (Syangja) Bharatpur Metropolitan City (Chitwan) vs. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (Kathmandu) What about the functions? The functions for provinces and local governments are symmetric (Schedule-5) © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

FAQs Centralized of decentralized federalism, which is suitable in Nepal? (Decentralized federal countries: Switzerland, Canada vs. centralized federal country: Malaysia) What is the scope/space of district (district government)? Should Nepal have single or dual judicial system? Is it necessary to have constitution implementation mechanism and transition plan for next few years? What should be the relationship between the rights to self- determination and federalism? © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

FAQs How should the recognition of diversity of language be managed in Nepal? How should the levying and collection of taxes be allocated among the federal, province and local governments? © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Potential risks (opportunities) Implementing constitution Reaching people Building ownership on state and national solidarity Making federalism a good means Strengthening local government © NASC 2019 2019-05-13

Thank You © NASC 2019 2019-05-13