Nepal Maoists give up presidency

Former Maoist rebels in Nepal have agreed to give up their claim to the presidency, senior party leaders say.

The decision came after the central secretariat met for nearly six hours at the home of Maoist leader Prachanda.

Last week, Nepal's new constituent assembly abolished 240 years of royal rule and the country became a republic.

The former rebels won most seats in recent elections and had been insisting on the posts of prime minister and the largely ceremonial one of president.

But now they say they will support "a non-partisan person from civil society" to be president.

The government has also decided to allow the deposed king, Gyanendra, to move to a palace just outside Kathmandu.

Squabbling

"The party reached the decision after other parties did not agree to make the provision of a president with executive power," Maoist politburo member Posta Bahadur Bogati said.

"The meeting also decided to support appointing a president from the civil society."

The BBC's Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu says Thursday's development paves the way for a more meaningful dialogue between the former rebels and the other political parties.

However, the formation of a government is still days away as there are still many differences which need to be sorted out, our correspondent says.

In the last few days, political parties have squabbled over the key posts of president and prime minister.

The Maoists - who won 220 of the 601 seats in the constituent assembly elections - insist they have been given the right by the Nepalese people "to lead the government and country".

They accuse the Nepali Congress and other parties of making meaningless demands for power.

But the other parties have demanded the appointment of a non-Maoist to the post of president in order to have a fairer balance of powers.

They have also demanded amending the constitution which would allow a simple majority vote to remove a government.

The Maoists want to stick to the current provision under which a two-thirds majority is needed to do this.

Correspondents say that the next few days will be crucial as the Maoists and other political parties meet to resolve their differences.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7437396.stm

Published: 2008/06/05 11:24:40 GMT

© BBC MMVIII