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By Our Reporter

The government, especially the two big ruling parties—NC and UML, had to exercise a lot to pass the ordinances introduced just 16 days before the winter session of the Parliament began.

The ordinances have to be passed within 60 days of their issuance, but the government was unable to table them for a month after the winter session began as the two-thirds majority government led by UML’s KP Sharma Oli lacks a majority in the 59-member National Assembly.

The two top leaders of the ruling parties—PM Oli and NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba—held several rounds of meetings with Upendra Yadav of Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal to seek his support in the NA to pass the ordinances. But Yadav denied it, objecting to the land-related ordinance. When Yadav did not budge his decision to reject the ordinances in his initial meetings with Oli and Deuba, the latter tried to find an alternative to Yadav’s support to endorse the ordinances. They even tried to introduce the seventh ordinance to split the Unified Socialist but when a section of leaders in the NC opposed this, the two leaders again resumed their talks with Yadav.

According to media reports, after Yadav agreed to support five of the six ordinances, the government presented five ordinances in the Parliament on Wednesday. Yadav even challenged to withdraw its support given to the government instead of helping it to pass the land-related ordinance.

It is noteworthy to recall here that even President Ramchandra Paudel had rejected to issue the land-related ordinance in the beginning. He introduced it only three days after issuing other ordinances in January.

Finally, the government did not submit the land-related ordinance to replace it with a bill.

Of course, the government which boasts of enjoying the support of a two-thirds majority found it difficult to garner a simple majority in the NA. The two parties have 27 votes in total and they required 30 votes to pass the ordinances. The JSP-N has three votes in the NA.

Now, after the latest meeting between PM KP Oli and Upendra Yadav, an understanding is said to have been reached between Oli and Yadav for rectifying the five ordinances by keeping on hold the land-related ordinances. If things go accordingly, it is expected that the five ordinances will be ratified by the National Assembly today (March 6).