Nepal, Oct. 12 -- Since the current provincial assemblies convened in January 2023, 301 of Nepal's 550 provincial lawmakers-about 55 percent-have served as a provincial minister or state minister, and some provinces have seen up to five chief ministers. In Sudurpaschim, it is nearly everyone: 41 of 53 members have held office, and of the 12 who have not, three are the speaker, the deputy speaker and a member who has left. The provinces have essentially become factories, and their chief product is the minister.

This is not what the provinces were for. Nepal's federalism carries the memory of a people's struggle, the promise that diverse identities would be represented and the confidence that communities could govern themselves. Of its thr...