Nepal is passing through one after another political complexity when the country is in a utter need of peace and consensus politics. The recent step-out of Maoists from the government, ongoing laughable "struggle" in the formulation of new government, and ever increasing confidence gap between political actors -- all appear to be taking the political actors away from many real challenges Nepal faces at the moment.
One of the most sensitive topics of this moment is federalism. This was perhaps one of the main reasons why people's movement-II succeeded. Nepal at present however is "suffering" because of many confusing aspirations the prevailing notion of federalism brought about to the Nepalese society. Many ethnic groups, large or small, are organizing protests across the country demanding their own ethnicity-based autonomous territorial units. Even Newar ethnic group unexpectedly came out on street demanding for their own separate state in Kathmandu and their dominant areas. Just today, Magar ethnic group also organized protest demanding the same. Everyday protests like these are crippling the daily life of people, businesses, and regular day to day operations (see http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=198911).
Some political parties, for example, Maoists, support federal model based on ethnic division. This is why most of these ethnic protest groups are Maoists or represent its sister organizations. These protests are happening at a time when political leaders are not being able to maintain and manage the government. A weak central government with continuing protest on the street has turned Nepal into a serious political turmoil.
While the prime most need for now may be to establish a government system that can secure confidence from major political parties and last for a longer period of time, it is critically important for all political parties to seriously engage/debate on the issue of federalism as well. At this point, this topic has been the prime source of major shut-downs and strikes in Nepal. It may be because, the people, regardless of their political party affiliation, may not have clearly understood the concept of federalism. That is to say that their leaders have not been able to clarify them various pros and cons of different model of federalism and their relevance in the context of Nepal. As such, people are refrained from making a conscious decision about the model. Unless they are given choices to make conscious decision, unrest in the street is likely to continue in future, which will continue to cripple the prosperity of our nation which is already suffering from acute poverty and violence.
Hence, it seems to me that this is the time our political leaders make some compromises on their personal and political egos and help form a resilient government. Then focus on the constitution making process, with richly engaging on discussions concerning to federalism. A certain form of federalism should not be adopted by any political party just because it helps gain the party's immediate popularity among the masses. Rather, every social and economic viability must be analyzed against any form of federal structure, and accordingly the message must be channeled to the public. Only by doing so will help everyone to understand the concept of federalism and select an appropriate model for Nepal, if needed at all, without damaging regular economy and social life.