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Moving Forward

With federal and provincial elections scheduled for this month, Nepal would have made much headway towards promoting a transparent democracy.

By Sajad Jatoi | November 2022


Elections, which facilitate the smooth transition of power among political parties, are oxygen for democracy. They are more so for the nascent federal republic of Nepal. After the successful local government elections in May 2022, Nepal is all set to hold federal and provincial elections this November. The polls will surely strengthen the democratic set-up, but the question remains: is this a step towards democratic consolidation

No doubt, 2022 elections will have a positive impact in terms of consolidation of democracy in the mountainous state, which has a history of tumult and conflict. The elections will strengthen the flickering candle of democracy which has often been put out by undemocratic forces.

In his address to the 77th session of United Nations General Debate Nepal foreign secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal talked in detail about provincial and federal elections in Nepal. He said: “For a democracy like Nepal, these are much more than just periodic elections. They are the testament to our ability of ensuring peaceful transfer of power.” He further added, “They are the means to enhance people’s trust in democracy, promote legitimacy and accountability and strengthen the rule of law”.

Local government polls held in May 2022 were a spectacular success. People eagerly participated in them and were quite satisfied with the results they got, as they managed to elect their true representatives who try to deliver what they promise.

The May elections had some positive outcomes as well. For example, the results revealed that in four of thirteen major cities, independent candidates swept the polls, thereby putting a full stop to conventional politics wherein the major political parties and the male- dominated elite determine the fate of the elections. Encouraged by these results, many independent candidates have decided to take part in the federal and provincial elections.

Nepal’s local government is considered one of the best institutions in the country. It has earned this respect through its effective public service delivery. For instance, during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic when the provincial and federal governments were seen struggling to efficiently respond to the health crisis, this institution’s performance was quite effective.

Election will surely help representative government become mature. Democracy in a country like Nepal is still in its budding phase, because it was only in September 2015 when the country had promulgated its first constitution, thereby laying the foundations for the present political system, which is federalism. It had taken two constituent assemblies about 7 years to reach consensus on the formulation of the constitution.

Democracy has a chequered history in Nepal as the country has seen changes of government for over 50 times. The very first attempts at democracy date back to early 1950s when the people had overthrown the monarchy of the Ranas who had reigned the country for more than a hundred years. In this movement of democracy, people had sought help from the then monarch of Nepal, King Tribhuvan. So, after they succeeded in getting rid of the hundred-year old monarchy, they re-instated the king as the Head of the State and established a constitutional monarchy.


In 1959, King Tribhuvan’s son, King Mahendra, issued a new constitution and the democratic elections for parliament were conducted for the first time. The Nepali Congress party won the elections and formed the government. However, King Mahendra had a change of mind; he dissolved the assembly soon after the elections, thus dismissing the first democratic government and discarding democracy once more.

Democracy has a chequered history in Nepal as the country has seen changes of government over 50 times.

As the democratic set-up could hardly long for a decade, for the next 30 years, the country had a quasi-monarchy Panchayat political set-up. Throughout this period, political parties were banned, and the system was referred to as a Panchayat regime.

However, in 1990 people launched a revolution called the 1990 People’s Movement. The revolution pressurised the then King Birendra into accepting the constitutional reforms. Hence, it ended absolute monarchy and brought constitutional monarchy. The King established a multi-party parliament with the King as the head of state and an executive prime minister. The next year, 1991, the country held general elections and once again the Nepali Congress emerged successful with 110 seats out of 205.

To cut the long story short, after the assassination of King Birendra in the tragic Nepal Royal Massacre, King Gayandera became the head of state. He brought to an end the constitutional monarchy, for which the people had struggled a lot. Nepal became a monarchy once again. So, it was in 2008, that people finally achieved their goal of establishing a representative government in Nepal. The election for a Constituent Assembly was held in April 2008, and the next month the assembly proclaimed that Nepal would be a Federal Democratic Republic. But the assembly was unable to sort out the differences among political parties, as it could not frame a new constitution. The constitution making was constantly being delayed, but the fatal 2015 Earthquake proved to be a catalyst, as in September 2015, the Second Constituent Assembly promulgated the constitution, which is in place right now.

In the meanwhile, the tenures of undemocratic forces have been characterised by corruption, censorship and human rights abuses. People have been denied their fundamental rights, such as the right to freedom of speech and expression. Because of the corruption, the country is still on the list of Least Developed Countries, in spite of the fact that it has vast resources and an important geo-strategic location as it lies at the middle of two big powers i.e., China and India.

The elections in 2022 are a real step towards democratic consolidation for the nascent federal republic of the landlocked country. If the provincial and federal elections go smoothly, they would certainly ensure much-needed political stability in the country which has been conflict-ridden in the recent past.

Besides, the November elections should also be an opportunity for provincial and federal governments to improve their governance and policy-making so as to earn the trust of the people. Elections should help them establish the rule of law and do away with festering corruption by promoting transparency and accountability.

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