By Our Reporter

At a time when the opposition parties are preparing to protest the government jointly, especially for issuing ordinances, the government has also developed strategies to face the opposition parties in the parliament.

Although the government of the Nepali Congress and the UML enjoys the support of almost a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the opposition parties under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chairman of the Maoist Centre, are united against the powerful coalition government of NC and UML led by KP Sharma Oli.

Although only around 80 lawmakers in the 275-member House of Representatives are in opposition with the Maoist Centre being the largest party with 32 members, they seemed well prepared to challenge the government in the winter session that begins on Friday (January 31).

The opposition parties are mainly targeting the government for issuing ordinances, filing cases against Rastriya Swatantra Party president Rabi Lamichhane and the government's failure to address the people's problems.

Considering the preparations of the opposition parties, the ruling parties on Monday held a meeting at the Baluwatar official residence of Prime Minister Oli.

In the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of all six ruling parties, the leaders agreed to have a united voice of the ruling parties in the House.  The meeting also decided to solve the problems that surfaced in the ruling parties through discussions and be present at the House effectively.

After the meeting, chief whips of the UML and NC said that the meeting decided that the lawmakers of all ruling parties would present themselves with uniform voices both in and outside the parliament. The meeting also decided that the lawmakers of the ruling parties will defend the six ordinances issued by the government and the activities of the government.

Although in the meeting, some leaders of the ruling parties expressed their ire against the government, PM Oli and NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba said that such issues should be discussed with the PM and find a solution.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, leader of the main opposition, CPN (Maoist Centre), has become restless after he lost power in a dramatic development in June last year, and he has been trying everything to topple the government. It was reported that he recently sent a message to Deuba that the latter should become the PM with the support of 80 opposition lawmakers. But Deuba did not give any value to the message.  Now Dahal is touring the nation criticising PM Oli and the government. He has even demanded the resignation of PM Oli.

Likewise, RSP is angry with the government for filing cases against its president Rabi Lamichhane on the charge of cooperative fraud. The RSP leaders and supporters are targeting PM Oli and NC general secretary Gagan Thapa for the detention of Lamichhane while the Rastriya Parjatanta Party is always against republic set-up and federalism.

However, if the ruling parties stand together, the opposition parties will not be able to prevent the government from tabling and passing the bills.   

PM Oli also hinted at a strong bond between the two big parties by saying that the NC was fully supporting him. Speaking at a function in Bhaktapur on Monday, Oli said as he was receiving the full support of NC, he would also provide similar support after he handed over power to Deuba. Not only that he arranged a chair for Deuba in Baluwatar just next to him showing that the two are equal in status. It is noteworthy to recall here that the chair row between Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahl led not only to the fall of Oli's previous government but also a split in the then Communist Party of Nepal formed by merging the UML and the Maoist Centre and within the UML.