The replacement bill has been cleared, with less than a month to go before the bill is passed
Five ordinances introduced by the government have also been approved by the National Assembly. A day after it was passed in the House of Representatives, the ordinance was tabled in the National Assembly for approval on Thursday. The proposal to accept the ordinance was passed by the National Assembly after the ruling party united.
The Ordinance amending some Nepal Acts related to good governance promotion and public service delivery, economic and business environment improvement and investment promotion, cooperatives, Economic Procedures and Financial Responsibility (First Amendment) Ordinance and Privatization (First Amendment) Ordinance have been accepted by the majority of the National Assembly. Those ordinances were registered by the government in the parliament on January 18, but the government moved forward only after a month had passed to ensure the majority in the National Assembly.
Parliamentarians Veduram Bhusal, Maya Prasad Sharma, Nar Bahadur Bista and Suresh Kumar Ale Magar proposed that the Economic Procedure and Financial Responsibility Ordinance be rejected in the National Assembly. Madankumari Shah and Jhakkuprasad Subedi moved that the privatization ordinance be rejected.
Similarly, the opposition MPs Gangakumari Belwase, Bishnu Bahadur Bishwakarma, Manrupa Sharma and Ghanshyam Rizal proposed that the ordinance to amend some Nepal Acts related to economic and business environment improvement and investment promotion should be rejected. Jagprasad Sharma and Rajendra Lakshmi Gayre proposed that the ordinance to amend some Nepal Acts related to cooperatives be rejected. Those proposals were rejected by the majority. MPs criticized the government while moving a motion to reject the
ordinance. They accused the government of trying to rule through ordinances, circumventing the parliamentary process, etc. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, while answering the questions raised by MPs on the ordinance, said that the ordinance was brought on the basis of legal provisions and requirements. "The ordinance has not violated any provisions of the constitution, laws and regulations of the National Assembly," he said. When the government works constitutionally, is the government autocratic? This government was formed by a party that believed in democracy and fought for democracy. The government is committed to the basic principles of democracy,' he said, 'They could not justify the refusal by discussing the issues contained in the ordinance.' The Land Ordinance issued on January 2 remains in effect for the time being. Jaspa Nepal, which supported the government in the said ordinance, objected. Since the National Assembly did not have the majority to pass the ordinance without the support of Jaspa Nepal, the land ordinance was put in place by 'gentleman's agreement'. The government has assured that the dissatisfaction of JSP Nepal in the Land Ordinance will be addressed through a replacement bill, and if it cannot be addressed, the ordinance will be withdrawn.
The support of JSP Nepal is essential for the government to pass ordinances and bills from the National Assembly. A majority in the 59-member National Assembly requires the support of 30 MPs. The National Assembly has 16 MPs from Congress, 10 from UML and 1 nominated MP. All five ordinances were approved with the support of Jaspa Nepal, which has 3 MPs, and LOSPA, which has 1 MP.
After the ordinance was accepted by both houses, the way for the government to introduce a replacement bill is open. There is a constitutional provision that the Ordinance Replacement Bill must be passed within 60 days of the commencement of the Parliament session. The government has less than a month to pass the replacement bill through Parliament.
