RPP, Sajha trash Oli’s ordinances

KATHMANDU, April 21: Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Sajha Party has lambasted Prime Minster K P Sharma Oli’s sudden decision to introduce ordinances related to Political Parties and Constitution Council.

The prime minister on Monday introduced the ordinances despite reservation from within the party which seeks an amendment in the Political Parties Act which will allow a split vote to require only 40 percent support from either the party central committee and the parliamentary party. The existing Act requires 40 percent support from both the central committee and the parliamentary party. The other ordinance will allow the Constitutional Council, which is headed by the prime minister himself, to make decisions without the presence of the opposition leaders.

RPP, issuing a press release on Tuesday, denounced the ordinances concluding they are inappropriate, unnecessary and against the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal.

“The ordinance related to the political parties will encourage the split of a party, political instability and risk the democracy,” the RPP stated.

“Likewise, the ordinance related to the Constitutional Council will weaken the key norm of the democracy which is power decentralization and power balance, and will impose the risk of autocracy.”

Sajha Chief Rabindra Mishra said the introduction of the ordinances shows Oli’s inclination toward the totalitarianism.

“Despite commanding a strong majority, the attempt to reign through the hateful politics of split and merge and full control of the constitutional bodies instead of the parliament is the mockery of the decades long democratic struggle,” Mishra wrote on his Facebook page.

“It is an attack on the core of the democratic norms and values,” he added.

The major opposition party Nepali Congress is holding a discussion to make an official view on the ordinances.