KATHMANDU: The government's bid to approve the contentious land ordinance in the National Assembly has been severely hampered by the decision of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, to not support the measure. The government coalition's capacity to advance the ordinance is severely weakened by the party's position.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called a meeting on Tuesday regarding the high-level political mechanism in response to the resistance from the JSP. But following the talks, Upendra Yadav said that no one from the government or its allies contacted him. He highlighted that JSP had already stated its stance and that no additional discussions with government officials had taken place subsequently.

Yadav said that the ordinance was not in the best interests of the country and requested the government to revoke it. He emphasized that the ruling coalition should reevaluate its strategy rather than try to advance the measure and that his party's position was definite.

During Tuesday evening’s meeting of the high-level mechanism, the ordinance was discussed, but details of the conversation were not disclosed. The lack of transparency has raised concerns about the true intent behind the proposal.

Following its own meeting in Kathmandu, the JSP's parliamentary party came to the conclusion that the ordinance was unsupportable. The party said that it was improper because it attempted to transfer government-owned land to private citizens.

The government is now seriously threatened by the party's vehement opposition in the National Assembly. Without the JSP's backing, the government coalition does not have the necessary majority to adopt the ordinance, which could jeopardize its legislative objectives. 

In this stalemate, the administration finds it almost impossible to change the ordinance or repeal it entirely. The ruling coalition is under pressure to hold additional talks or face losing the legislative vote in the National Assembly.