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President Ram Chandra Paudel issued the Cooperative (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2083 on Thursday. 

President Paudel, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, issued the ordinance in accordance with Article 114 (1) of the Constitution, said Ritesh Kumar Shakya, the Spokesperson for the Office of the President. 

The Supreme Court has issued a mandamus order, asking the government to conclude the long-pending transitional justice by speeding up investigations into the complaints over conflict-era cases.

A constitutional bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla, justices Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, Dr Nahakul Subedi, Abdul Ajiz Musalman and Tek Prasad Dhungana ordered the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons to ramp up investigation into the complaints and ensure transitional justice to the conflict-era victims.

Spokesperson at SC, Arjun Prasad Koirala, said that the mandamus was issued to clear obstruction to access to justice. Effective investigation was imperative to finalize transitional justice. The SC also reminded the government of directive orders issued previously on it.

The third amendment to the Act relating to the transitional justice mechanism, 2081 was in the spirit of international standard, SC verdicts and laws, according to SC. 

Senior member of the then Constituent Assembly, Kul Bahadur Gurung, and advocate Dr Gyan Bahadur Basnet had filed a writ petition, making defendants to the Prime Minister's Office and arguing that the third amendment to the Act was unconstitutional.

However, the petitioners had demanded quicker conclusion of transitional justice by holding thorough investigation into the complaints. 

The third amendment to the Act has replaced the term 'serious violation of human rights' with 'human rights violation' or 'serious violation of human rights'.

In the writ petition, Gurung and Basnet had demanded inclusion of only 'serious violation of human rights'.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah's political advisor Asim Shah has said that the government introduced the new ordinances by internalizing democratic values, and is aimed at ensuring prompt public service delivery. 

He stated the ordinances are oriented towards clearing legal hurdles to advance the jobs of public concerns.   

The PM's Advisor has mentioned that the ordinances were recommended to take crucial steps to clear policy-level complexities in our administrative system. 

Talking to his social accounts today, Advisor Shah stated that the President of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) had already asked the political appointees to pave the way for governance reforms as per the spirit of the fresh mandate of the people.

He argued that the ordinances will facilitate result-oriented governance by ending deadlock seen in work execution. 

For the same purpose, the cabinet meeting held on April 27 had recommended the ordinances to President Ram Chandra Paudel for authentication, Shah added. 

Advisor Shah argued that the ordinances are not to serve the interests of some individuals or groups but to ensure the effectiveness of the state mechanisms.

Opposition parties have urged the government to immediately convene a session of the federal Parliament.

A meeting held today under the leadership of main opposition party Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Bhishma Raj Angdembe took a decision to urge the government to withdraw the ordinance on amending the Constitutional Council Act, 2066 BS and the Cooperatives Act, 2074 BS and request it to instead submit to the House. 

CPN-UML Parliamentary Party leader Ram Bahadur Thapa, Nepali Communist Party Chief Whip Yubaraj Dulal, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Saraswati Lama were present in the meeting.