Kathmandu, April 24

Political leaders and civil society members have raised question of morality against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli after the ordinance fiasco. Bowing to pressure from within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and opposition parties, the PM today decided to ask the president to repeal the two ordinances related to the Constitutional Council Act and Political Party Act.

NCP lawmaker Janardan Sharma told THT that bringing the two ordinances at a time when the entire country was battling against the coronavirus pandemic was ethically and morally wrong.

The alleged abduction of Samajwadi Party-Nepal lawmaker Surendra Kumar Yadav also puts the PM in bad light, he added.

Newly-formed Janata Samajwadi Party leader Baburam Bhattarai wrote on twitter that as long as KP Sharma Oli remained the prime minister, Damocles sword would continue to hang over democracy.

He added that the two ordinances that the PM brought to split the Samajwadi Party-Nepal boomeranged on him. Bhattarai said withdrawal of ordinances should not be a reason for not investigating a crime committed at his behest.

The main opposition Nepali Congress also turned the heat on the PM. It issued a press release stating that the PM’s bad intention while promulgating the ordinances would not be forgotten with their withdrawal.

The NC demanded an investigation into the alleged abduction of Samajwadi Party-Nepal lawmaker Surendra Kumar Yadav and action against those involved.

Political scientist Krishna Khanal said it was strange that the president, who held consultation for almost a month in the past on some issues, did not consult anyone on the ordinance related to the Constitutional Council.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.