• Promulgation of ordinances is the government’s latest attempt to take the path of tyranny

Kathmandu, April 22

A meeting of the four opposition parties — the Nepali Congress, Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal,  Samajbadi Party-Nepal and Rastriya Prajatantra Party — condemned the promulgation of two ordinances that amended key provisions of the Constitutional Council Act and Political Party Act on Monday.

The four parties termed the two ordinances as against the spirit of the constitution and democratic norms and practices. “We take the promulgation of these ordinances as the Oli-led government’s latest attempt to take the path of tyranny. The government should immediately withdraw these ordinances,” the opposition parties stated in their joint press release.

Stating that promulgation of the two ordinances was an attack on the spirit of the democratic republican constitution, the four opposition parties urged the government to immediately call the Parliament session to discuss urgent issues.

The opposition parties said in their release that they would build public opinion against the government’s anti-democratic moves and take necessary steps once the lockdown was lifted.

They said people were facing shortage of food due to the extended lockdown, but the government was not addressing their concerns. Opposition parties accused the government of not handling the coronavirus pandemic sensitively and not providing adequate relief to poor people.

Opposition parties also called on other parties and all people to stay vigilant against the government’s totalitarian steps. They decided to hold discussions with parties outside the Parliament and civil society members.

RJP-N leader Rajendra Mahato said if the two ordinances were implemented, it would reverse all the political changes that were brought after the sacrifice of hundreds of people.  He said opposition parties would hold another meeting to decide its next course of action if the government did not withdraw the ordinances.

The ordinance related to the Constitutional Council Act amended the provisions of the act to allow the constitutional body to decide on the basis of majority.

The ordinance related to the Political Party Act amended provisions of the act to allow leaders of political parties to split their parties if they win support of either 40 per cent members of their central committee or the parliamentary party. Before the ordinance was promulgated, support of 40 per cent members in both the CC and PP was required to split a party.

NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, party leaders Ramchandra Paudel, Bimalendra Nidhi, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Purna Bahadur Khadka, Prakash Sharan Mahat, Gopalman Shrestha, Prakashman Singh, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Balkrishna Khand, Bishwaprakash Sharma and Radhe Shyam Adhikari attended the meeting.

Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal was represented by four members of the party presidium —  Mahantha Thakur, Rajendra Mahato, Mahendra Yadav and Sharad Singh Bhandari.

Samajbadi Party-Nepal was represented by  Baburam Bhattarai, Upendra Yadav, Ashok Rai and Rajendra Shrestha.

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A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 23, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.