Nepal still undecided about new government

A key meeting of the main political parties in Nepal to end the deadlock over power sharing on Saturday was postponed indefinitely, opening up the way for a possible floor test in the Constituent Assembly to decide who would form the new government in the country.The four main parties - ... ...Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) indefinitely postponed the meeting to resolve the dispute over power sharing and formulating a common minimum programme.With the parties failing to form a national unity government under Article 38 (1) of interim constitution, they will seek to form a government under Article 38 (2), which means that the party with the majority support in the Constituent Assembly gets to form the government."As we have missed the presidential deadline, the post-election government will be formed under Article 38 (2) of the interim constitution. But it should not be construed that we have failed to reach a consensus," Maoist chief Prachanda was quoted as saying in the media.However, he expressed the hope that the government could still be elected "unopposed" in the House.CPN-UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal said that since the deadline set by the President for forming a coalition government expired on Friday, the new government ill now be formed through voting in the assembly.Deadlocked over power sharing, the mainstream parties on Saturday reach a consensus on a Maoist-led coalition as they could not agree on the distribution of key portfolios of defence, home and finance in the new government.On Tuesday, President Ram Baran Yadav extended by three days the deadline he had given for the parties to reach a consensus on a new government led by the Maoist, who emerged as the single largest party in the April 10 election for the 601-member House.Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi said his party was opposed to allowing the Maoists to control both the Nepal Army and the Maoists' militia by leaving them incharge of the defence portfolio.As the Young Communist League, affiliated to the Maoists, are functioning like police organisation they cannot be given the Home ministry, stressed Nidhi, the party's general secretary.The major parties are unlikely to lend support to a Maoist-led government unless they part with the crucial home and defence ministries, party sources said.CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal said informal consultations were held today among major political parties on power sharing.Reports also indicated that with the failure of four-party talks, the second largest party, Nepali Congress may take the initiative for the formation of a government. The political parties have been deadlocked over power sharing since the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy on May 28.The CPN-Maoist, who ended their decade-long insurgency after a peace pact with the government in 2006, need the support of mainstream parties to form a government since they failed to get a majority in the landmark elections.The former rebels, who have only 227 seats, cannot form a government without the support from either Nepali Congress or the CPN-UML.

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