The ruling parties have decided to table the ordinances that the government introduced in December and January, on March 5. A meeting of a political mechanism of the ruling coalition partners on Friday decided to do so and seek political support from other ruling parties that have been expressing reservations over some ordinances.

The meeting also decided to expedite all stalled bills including the texts of the ordinances.

“The meeting decided to table the bill related to the political parties,” said one ruling party leader. “As there is a void of laws, all required bills and ordinances will be tabled.”

Currently, some provisions of the political party Act are inactive so the government of the KP Sharma Oli has been trying to introduce a new law governing political parties. However, opposition parties have stood against it. Some opposition parties fear their dissident factions might splinter away if the government pushed forward with the new law.

“Bills and proposals related to constitution amendment, along with six ordinances will be presented at the House of Representatives,” said Mahesh Bartaula, chief whip of the ruling CPN-UML.

The meeting has also decided to expedite all work-in-progress bills in parliament, said Bartaula.

“The matter will also be discussed with political parties supporting the government.”

“In order to secure support from ruling parties, we will also meet with Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-Nepal) and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP). We will get to a conclusion before March 5,” said Bartaula.

Before tabling the ordinances, ruling parties leaders will hold meetings with both Madhes-based parties and will try to assuage their concerns, said Bartaula.

A meeting of the ruling parties will be held on Saturday or Sunday in order to take the decision, he said.

“If we don’t table the ordinances on March 5, we will table them the next day.”

The proposed meeting will try to come to a common position on controversial ordinances and introduce replacement bills, he added.

The JSP-Nepal, which has been supporting the KP Sharma Oli government without joining the Cabinet, and the LSP, which has a minister in the Oli-led Cabinet, oppose the land-related ordinance.

Although the present government commands a strong majority in the House of Representatives, it falls short of even a simple majority in the National Assembly. As a result, the government has been delaying the passage of the ordinances and replacement bills.

Law requires that the government endorse the replacement bills within 60 days after the commencement of the House session following the issuance of ordinances. The current winter session, also called bills session, commenced on January 31.

Ahead of the high-level political mechanism, the Nepali Congress had decided to form a taskforce to amend the constitution. As per the recommendation of the Congress, the meeting of the mechanism decided to have a taskforce in order to recommend possible amendments.

According to a leader privy to the development, the ruling parties might bring a bill related to political parties that would make it easier for parties to split.

Currently, there is a legal void with regard to party splits and registration of the splinter factions as new outfits. This void emerged after the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government in 2021 introduced an ordinance to amend the Political Parties Act-2017. The ordinance expired without being replaced by a regular bill and no subsequent government since has replaced that bill.

The chief whips of the Congress and CPN-UML, Shyam Ghimire and Bartaula, respectively, will take the initiative to table and endorse the bills that are currently under consideration in parliament.