Failing provinces could spell disaster for traditional parties

Further weakening of provinces will bring more bad news for old parties.

Nepal is currently navigating a complex political landscape. The March 5 snap polls gave the country a new federal government dominated by the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which has a near two-thirds majority in the federal lower house. However, the provinces remain under the leaders of old parties, mainly the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, and the Nepali Communist Party (formerly the Maoist Centre and CPN (Unified Socialist), against whose incompetence Gen Z-ers protested last September. The federal government promises sweeping governance reform, and the public eye is on provincial governments, wondering if they too have reform plans. Clearly, the provinces, whose very existence has often been questioned, lag far behind the federal political change. The provinces thus need to be ready to embrace the recent political change.