Opposition parties urge govt to withdraw five ordinances

KATHMANDU: Opposition parties have termed the government’s move to introduce ordinances by postponing the parliament session as unparliamentary and undemocratic.

Speaking at the meeting called by Nepali Congress (NC) parliamentary party leader Bhishma Raj Angdembe on Tuesday, they said the decision to recommend to the President to issue ordinances to amend the Constitutional Council (Functions, Duties, and Powers) Act, the Cooperative Act, Health Science Academies Act, Various Nepal Acts, and University Act was unacceptable.

They argued that introducing ordinances immediately after postponing the parliamentary session undermines democratic norms and parliamentary practice. “The move to bring ordinances in such a manner is utterly unparliamentary and undemocratic,” the opposition parties said in a statement issued after the meeting. “It appeared to be an attempt to bypass the legislature.”

The opposition parties have demanded that the government immediately withdraw all the ordinances. They have also urged the President not to approve them, arguing that doing so would weaken parliamentary oversight.

Furthermore, the leaders called for the immediate reconvening of the postponed session of the Federal Parliament.

CPN-UML parliamentary party leader Ram Bahadur Thapa, Chief Whip of Nepali Communist Party Yubaraj Dulal, and representative of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Saraswati Lama were present on the meeting.