September 8: The government is all set to table a replacement bill in parliament in place of the ordinance budget issued by the former government led by KP Oli. According to the Ministry of Finance, the bill is about to be tabled in the parliament to replace the budget brought by the previous government for the current fiscal year 2078/79 through an ordinance.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma is preparing to table the bill for approval on September 9 if there is no obstruction from the opposition. According to the ministry sources, the current government is ready to change the size of the budget mentioned in the ordinance through the replacement bill.

The previous government led by Oli had announced a budget of Rs 1.647 trillion for the current fiscal year through an ordinance. The current government formed after Oli's ouster is preparing to bring a bill to replace it. The government plans to get the bill approved after holding necessary discussions within a week of registering the bill.

The government is also assessing the activities of the opposition party CPN (UML) before introducing the bill in the parliament. "The government is preparing to look into the party's activities in the parliament today (Wednesday) and register the bill on Thursday," a ministry source said.

The UML, which has been protesting against the replacement bill, has already shown signs to protest in the parliament. The current government has stopped awarding new contracts to more than 2,000 road projects that the Oli-led government had put forward under the Constituency Strategic Road Program. UML is dissatisfied with the suspension of its budget plan. Various sources informed New Business Age that the government is ready not to move ahead with such projects through the replacement bill. It is likely to further annoy the opposition.

Spokesperson of the government and Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Gyanendra Karki said that a replacement bill is prepared to pass the budget brought by the previous government with amendments. The government has discussed the issue with UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli.

Karki said that he had met UML Chairman Oli a few days ago and proposed to pass the budget by suspending some rules of the parliament.

However, Karki said that Oli refused to pass the replacement bill.

"The UML is not ready to suspend some rules of the parliament to pass the budget replacement bill," Karki said.

The previous government had brought the budget through an ordinance by dissolving the House of Representatives under the constitutional provision. However, the Supreme Court intervened and revived the dissolved House.