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By Our Reporter

It has been almost two weeks since the winter session of the Federal Parliament began. However, the government has not yet tabled the six ordinances it introduced last month in the House for their approval. After issuing the ordinances, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and other ministers had argued that they would present the ordinances on the first day of the meeting and they would be endorsed immediately. But it could not happen as the ruling parties lack a simple majority in the National Assembly to endorse them.

In the 59-member NA, the ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML had 27 seats and two of the three nominated NA members may also vote in favour of the ordinances. As the ruling parties needed one NA member to pass the ordinances, they tried to woo Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal in favour of the ordinances but in vain.

Although JSP-N has supported the present government without joining it, the party opposed the ordinances, especially the ones related to land.  Moreover, Mahantha Thakur-led Loktantraik Samajwadi Party though is in the government as one of the ruling parties, has also opposed the land-related ordinance prompting the NC and UML to seek the support of other parties.

When Upendra Yadav continued bargaining for the posts of the Deputy Prime Minister with leadership of the Health Ministry in the centre and Chief Minister in Madhes, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba are reportedly seeking alternatives to pass the ordinances from the Upper House. The two parties enjoy a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives.

Now, PM Oli and NC boss Deuba are trying to pass the ordinances with the support of disgruntled lawmakers of the CPN (Unified Socialist), which has eight members in the Upper Chamber.

It may not be a wonder if the government issued yet another ordinance to split the CPN (Unified Socialist) to endorse the six ordinances introduced earlier.  

Anyway, the present government which boasts of being a government of a two-thirds majority has been at a crossroads to get the support of a simple majority to endorse the ordinances.

Legally, the ordinances should be passed within 60 days of their issuance from the House, but the government has not tabled them for their endorsement because of lack of a vote in the NA. As a result, the fate of the ordinances introduced by bypassing the parliament has become uncertain.