The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has claimed that there was still a strong possibility of it leading the next government

KATHMANDU, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has claimed that there was still a strong possibility of it leading the next government, local newspaper TheRising Nepal reported on Sunday.

Earlier, with its presidential candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh being defeated by Dr. Ram Baran Yadav who was backed by the alliance of Nepali Congress (NC), the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF), it had no moral authority to form the next government.

In an exclusive interview with the newspaper, CPN-M chairman Prachanda said the CPN-M could form the next government by provinga majority in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. "More than 20 parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA) out of 25 hold the view that we should lead the next government, hence there is still a strong possibility of a government led by CPN-M."

The parties that assisted the three-party alliance during the presidential election now want CPN-M to lead the next government, said Prachanda. "With this, the possibility of our party forming the next government cannot be totally ruled out."

Chairman Prachanda said that he had held consultations with thenewly-elected president in regard to forming the new government. President Yadav had invited the CPN-M leaders Friday evening to discuss the prospects of forming the next government as the largest party in the CA. He said President Yadav had asked his party to give continuity to its initiatives to form a consensus government.

"The people have established the CPN-M, a revolutionary party, as the largest party in the CA; the reactionary and status quoist forces, however, are not ready to accept this and are effortful tobar it from ascending to helm of the power," Prachanda said. "If any other party had won as many seats as we had, a new government would be in place just within a week. But the CPN-M has been barred out of government for almost four months. This is a serious disregard of people's mandate."

"Those who labeled us as terrorists when we were fighting for people's rights are now up with a fallacious argument that we will turn authoritarian once in power so that they can continue conflict and violence and go on exploiting the nation," said Prachanda.

Stating that foreign interference had heightened in the recent times, Prachanda said the inordinate delay in the formation of the government and the method chosen for the election of president gave the foreign elements a space to interfere.

Prachanda said it was because of his party that the country finally elected a president from the Madhesi community. "One after another, our agendas of constituent assembly, republican state, presidential system and federalism are being implemented. The political agendas belong to the CPN-M but the leadership is traditional; everybody should remain alert to prevent the prolongation of this situation."

After April 10 elections, the Constituent Assembly of Nepal on May 28 declared the country a federal democratic republic.