On the eve of the winter session of Parliament, seven opposition parties have decided to reject the six ordinances brought by the government. The winter session is set to kick off Friday, and the parliament secretariat, on the same day, plans to table the ordinances for parliamentary approval.

As the government has announced its intention to fast-track the approval process, opposition parties insist that they want thorough discussions on the ordinances before deciding on them. The clashing stands of the ruling and opposition parties could escalate tensions, setting a stage for a heated showdown in Parliament.

If the House of Representatives approves the ordinances, it will pave the way for the government to introduce replacement bills in the House. The government is planning to table the ordinances for approval on February 6. But the opposition will obstruct the process both on Friday and on February 6, as per their strategy.

A joint meeting of the opposition parties on Thursday decided to table a motion in the House to reject the ordinances. The meeting was attended by leaders of the CPN (Maoist Centre), the Rastriya Swatantra Party, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the CPN (Unified Socialist), the Rastriya Janamorcha, the Am Janata Party, and the Nepal Samajbadi Party.

“If needed, the opposition parties will hit the street too,” said Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the main opposition, CPN (Maoist Centre) in a meeting called by Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The opposition parties also decided to stay firm and united on issues of public concerns, said Pandey. “As the process and procedure for introducing the ordinances were wrong, we decided to reject them.”

Recently, the government had amended 29 laws and brought five ordinances to address concerns raised by the general public, service seekers, investors and other stakeholders. Before this, the government had brought an ordinance to monitor and regulate cooperative organisations.

As per the parliamentary procedure, the government must register the ordinances on the first day of the House session and pass replacement bills within sixty days. The ordinances, which were authenticated by the President, have already been registered in the parliament secretariat, according to the government’s spokesperson, Prithivi Subba Gurung.

Defending the decision to introduce ordinances in the absence of the parliament, Gurung, who is also the Minister for Communication and Information Technology, said relevant state entities have already started formulating regulations in line with new ordinances.

“Bringing an ordinance is the constitutional right of the government and a necessity for the country,” he said on Tuesday. “The ordinances were brought to promote good governance, improve business climate and end the economic crisis.”

“We are not avoiding Parliament. We have already registered the ordinances in Parliament,” Gurung told the media.

But Pandey, the chief whip of the Maoist Centre, took a defiant stance.

“The government pushed through some ordinances just before the House session. This is wrong. A similar bill is pending in the finance committee of the House of Representative. But instead of debating it at the proper forum [parliamentary committee], the government undermined it and brought the ordinance,” said Pandey. He claimed that the ordinances were introduced with a malafide intent.

Likewise, Maoist Centre lawmaker Madhav Sapkota said his party will register a proposal to reject the ordinances on Friday itself. However, Sapkota clarified that his party’s opposition to the ordinances is focused more on the process than on the content.