Nepal’s 2015 Constitution envisioned the devolution of political power from Kathmandu to the grassroots. Eleven years since its promulgation, however, Nepal is more centrally governed than ever.
Since 2015, Nepal has been governed by elected leaders who loathed the idea of decentralization. Federalism was just a slogan, and they never gave the provinces the chance to work, ensuring that they held the purse strings and power.
Alas, the new post-youth protest government, despite promises of reform, has not done much better.
The detention of former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana, similar arrests and travel restrictions on top bankers and businesses exposed that the governing RSP doesn’t care much about due process.
Political power used to be concentrated in Kathmandu, then after 1990 it was in Singha Darbar. Now it is in the inner circle of the PMO. This is not surprising, since Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his RSP never had much love lost for federalism.
The latest proof of this entrenched centralised power structure was seen in the aftermath of the Trisuli Valley flood, where local governments, despite being first responders had to take a back seat to the dominance of federal agencies.
Wards and municipalities in Rasuwa and Nuwakot noted that crucial time was lost when urgent requests for search and rescue went largely unheeded. Relief was funneled through a single door system initially hindered aid from reaching where it was needed most.
To be sure, even the most efficient and well-oiled government machinery would have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. But search, rescue and rehabilitation could have been much better coordinated with elected local governments which know their terrain best.
This week, Chief Ministers of six provinces met in Biratnagar to issue the Kosi Declaration 2026 and pressure the federal government to devolve political power to their provinces, following other similar gatherings in previous years.
Local elections are approaching, and that may force the RSP to at least show that it is for devolution. Nepal should not be following the global trend towards democratic backsliding.
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s (International IDEA) 2026 Global State of Democracy report published last month concluded that for the 11th consecutive year, more countries declined in democratic performance than advanced.
The state of democracy was measured across four categories: representation, rights, rule of law, and participation. Nepal ranked 63rd in representation, 68th in rights, 77th in rule of law, and 51st in participation.
That is not too bad. But International IDEA notes that the new RSP leadership has the potential to make for a more responsive legislative system.
For Nepal, the report offeres a silver lining, noting ‘limited’ democratic advances in the aftermath of last year’s youth protests, and a state of ‘resilience, recovery, and even nascent transformation’, cautioning that institutional gains from protest driven transitions often take several years to materialise.
‘In Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, where popular protests unseated long-serving leaders, there have also been advances, though it has proven difficult to create far-reaching, meaningful reform in a short period of time,’ the report reads. ‘In all these cases, it will be important to watch the extent to which new leadership can advance the reforms for which … people have given their lives.’
This State of Democracy report focuses primarily on democracy in an age of ongoing global conflict.
In 2025, researchers at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded, 65 active state-based conflicts worldwide, including eight direct interstate conflicts, the highest number recorded since the World War II.
Historical global alliances have frayed across the Global North, faith in multilateral institutions has declined. The ability of the UN in stopping conflicts has been thwarted because of the veto power of the Big Five. The institutions built to maintain international security and foster global cooperation themselves face a democratic deficit.
The report presents a special case study of the US, outlining the steady decline of a country that presented itself as the beacon of democracy and freedom, even while it perpetuated wars whose effects have reverberated across the globe.
Nepal may not play a direct role in these global conflicts, but Nepalis do pay, increasingly often with their lives and livelihoods. Nepal is also the biggest contributor to the UN’s peacekeeping force.
The IDEA report concludes that world governments should make democracy building a core pillar of their national security strategies. This includes deployment of funds and resources to regions at risk.
For the Global North, this means looking inwards and confronting its own democratic crises if it is to teach the rest of the world what democracies are supposed to look like.
The damage that the Trump presidency has dealt to the American state mechanism and sociocultural relations will outlast his administration. The UK has almost broken Nepal’s record by having seven Prime Ministers in the last 10 years. Germany is going through a far-right drift not seen since the 1930s. In France and Spain, young people are on street barricades demanding better education and housing. Neighbouring India is seeing GenZ-inspired youth protests.
All of this means Nepal should not expect moral and economic support for its democracy and development. We must take a hard look at why democratic devolution is the basis for equitable, inclusive and environmentally-sound economic progress.
The aim is to strengthen governance, rule of law, service-delivery, education, to create jobs and the right conditions to make people want to stay and work in Nepal. This becomes even more urgent in a year which has seen a series of disasters, and a young government just learning the ropes.
The Nepal government has maintained its G2G partnership to send Nepali workers to Israel despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the threat to the safety of Nepalis in the region. More than 3,000 Nepalis have left to work in Israel since the 7 October attacks that killed 11 Nepalis.
The US and Israel war on Iran that has spilled over to West Asia, shattering the longstanding guarantee of Gulf nations being a safe haven for Nepalis to work and send money home.
Historically, there has always been a dichotomy between Nepal’s nonaligned foreign policy and its tripartite agreement with India and the UK allowing citizens to serve in foreign militaries and directly fight their wars. Nepalis are also fighting and dying on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine front.
It is desperation and disillusionment with the state that has made fighting and dying in other people’s wars seem like the better option than staying in Nepal. This disenfranchisement continues to drive Nepalis farther away from home. The RSP government has offered hope to young Nepalis, but in the past six months a record number left for greener pastures.
As the Global North confronts its own demons, Nepal has its work cut out to make its democracy deliver devolution and development so its youth do not have to leave home in such great numbers.
Shristi Karki
The Global State of Democracy 2026
Democracy in an Age of Conflict
by International IDEA
2026, 199 pages