2 Interrelationship between the Federation, Provinces and Local Level (Part 20)

1. The governing principle (Article 232(1)): relations "based on the principles of cooperative, coexistence and coordination" — Nepal's federalism's one-word triad; 2. The legislative web (Article 231): federal law may run nationwide; provincial law within the province; two or more provinces may petition the Federal Parliament to legislate a Schedule-6 subject (effective only in the petitioning provinces); 3. Federal oversight (Article 232(2)): GoN directives on national importance and inter- provincial coordination — binding; 4. The nuclear option (Article 232(3)-(7)): where a province's act seriously affects sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence or autonomy, the President may reprimand, suspend or dissolve the provincial CoM and Assembly — subject to approval by a majority of the total Federal Parliament members within 35 days (else it lapses automatically); fresh provincial elections within 6 months; federal rule in the interim (with the Federal Parliament's temporary power to legislate Schedule-6 matters); 5. The horizontal machinery: Inter-Provincial Council (Article 234: PM + Home & Finance Ministers + all CMs — the political dispute forum); province-province cooperation and equal treatment of residents (Article 233); interprovincial trade unobstructed and non-discriminatory (Article 236); the Constitutional Bench's jurisdiction preserved (Article 237; and the DCC's province-local coordination role — Article 235); 6. The fiscal ligaments (Articles 59–60): revenue lists, the NNRFC's transfer recommendations, equalization/conditional/special grants — the federalism's financial nervous system.