Kathmandu: President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday issued a controversial ordinance to amend the Political Parties Act-2017.
The Office of President said in a statement that the President issued the ordinance as per Article 114 (1) of the Constitution on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.
A meeting of the Council of Minister held on Tuesday had forwarded the ordinance to President Bhandari for authentication.
As per the new provision, a political party can be split with 20 percent support in the central committee or parliamentary party. Earlier, a faction within the party needed at least 40 percent support in both the parliamentary party and the central committee to split a party.
The new provision will make it easier for the UML’s Madhav Kumar Nepal faction to split the party. In addition, the Mahanta Thakur faction that has been rendered partyless will be able to register a new party. Both Nepal and Thakur have geared up to register new parties.
The erstwhile KP Sharma Oli-led government had unveiled a similar ordinance which was later repealed following criticisms.
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