Hands Off the Provinces

The Gen-Z movement of September 2025 emerged largely because Nepal's major political parties had drifted away from the spirit of the Constitution and the concerns of ordinary citizens, becoming consumed instead by power politics. Yet even after facing public anger and electoral rejection, many political leaders appear to have learned little from that experience. Having lost the political strength to alter the balance of power at the federal level, leaders of the major parties have shifted their attention to provincial governments. Instead of allowing provincial politics to evolve independently, they continue to engineer changes in provincial coalitions from Kathmandu, creating yet another cycle of instability. This is not merely a political problem—it is a direct threat to the success of Nepal's federal system. Since the Constitution came into force, provincial governments have rarely been allowed to function on their own terms. Political equations formed at the federal level have routinely dictated the rise and fall of governments in the provinces. Whether in Sudurpaschim, Karnali, Bagmati, Madhesh or elsewhere, provincial administrations have become vulnerable to the ambitions and calculations of central party leaders rather than accountable to their own elected assemblies. The latest developments illustrate the problem. Coalition partners are abandoning governments, no-confidence motions are being registered, ministers are resigning, and fresh alliances are being negotiated—not because provincial priorities have fundamentally changed, but because political interests at the centre have shifted. Such practices reduce provincial governments to extensions of Kathmandu's power struggles rather than autonomous institutions envisioned by the Constitution.