The ruling alliance had not expected the endorsement of the ordinances to be a Herculean task.

Though not in government, the Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-Nepal) had voted for the KP Sharma Oli government during the floor test in July last year. Hence the party is a part of the ruling alliance.

Another Madhesh-based outfit, the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), is already in the Oli-headed Cabinet. The major parties in the ruling coalition didn’t foresee the two parties standing together against one of the ordinances they introduced in December and January.

Their rejection of an ordinance related to amending the Land Act, among the six ordinances introduced in the federal parliament, has compelled the alliance of the two largest political parties—the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML—to delay the putting of the ordinances to vote. The Oli government had introduced those ordinances at two times when Parliament was not in session.

“All the ordinances, including the one to amend the Land Act, were issued with a good intent. Rejection from the JSP-Nepal and the LSP was not expected,” said a Congress leader. “We misread their intent.”

A meeting of the political mechanism of the ruling coalition partners on Friday decided to table all the ordinances for endorsement on Wednesday. It has also decided to reach out to the JSP-Nepal and LSP for support.

However, the JSP-Nepal responded quickly, saying it would stand against the other five ordinances as well if the government didn’t withdraw the one to amend the Land Act. The party says the land ordinance only serves the land mafia, even claiming that such interest groups are ready to invest billions of rupees to buy parliamentarians to get the ordinance through.

“The land-related ordinance must be withdrawn. We will be forced to protest if it is pushed ahead,” said Manish Suman, the party spokesperson. “Our central committee meeting starts tomorrow [Sunday]. It will decide our position on the ordinances and relationship with the ruling alliance [whether to withdraw support to the government].”

Ruling party leaders say they still believe the JSP-Nepal and the LSP will not vote against the ordinances. “The ordinances will easily pass the House of Representatives even if the two parties vote against them,” said Rajendra Gautam, chief of the UML’s publicity department. “We have devised a strategy for the National Assembly as well. But I cannot reveal it to the media. I can assure you all the ordinances will soon be endorsed.”

Though the Congress-UML coalition enjoys a thumping majority in the House of Representatives, it is shy of the halfway mark in the National Assembly, the upper house.

The Congress has 16 seats in the 59-strong upper house and the UML has 10 seats. If Anjan Shakya and Bamdev Gautam, both nominated by the government, side with the ruling alliance, it will have 28 seats, still two short of a majority.

Based on their relations with the UML leadership, Shakya is almost certain to support the ordinances while Bamdev Gautam’s voting intent is anyone’s guess. Securing the support of JSP-Nepal with three lawmakers and LSP with one lawmaker in the upper house would have led to a comfortable endorsement.

However, their opposition has left the alliance with no option but to “devise an alternate strategy” as Rajendra Gautam put it.

The government is under pressure to endorse the ordinances and replace them with regular bills within this month as per the mandatory provision of replacing an ordinance through a bill from Parliament.

Along with the decision to put the ordinances to vote, the ruling coalition also agreed to introduce a bill to amend the Political Parties Act-2017. Many believe it will have a provision that 40 percent of the central committee members or 40 percent of the parliamentary party members can split a party, if a dissident faction so wants. It is seen as a strategy to put the fringe parties, mainly the CPN (Unified Socialist), under pressure to back the ordinances.

This is because all is not well with the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led party, some of whose lawmakers are looking for an exit. The party has 10 members in the lower house and eight in the upper chamber. Endorsement of the ordinances will be comfortable only if four of its National Assembly lawmakers cross the floor.

Speaking at a programme in the national capital on Saturday, Bhanubhakta Joshi, a Unified Socialist leader, said the bill is being introduced to put the fringe parties under pressure. “We are closely studying the intention behind the bill. History will evaluate it,” he said.

There is a legal void on registering a new political party in case a dissident faction revolts from a party.

In 2021, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government amended the Political Parties Act-2017 through an ordinance, which had to be replaced by a regular bill within 60 days after the commencement of the subsequent House session. But the government didn’t do so, making the changed provisions inactive since.