'Shital Niwas in wait and see mode till July 21'

Nepali Congress leader Ram Saran Mahat, who was present in the meeting between President Ram Saran Yadav and the leaders of main opposition parities on Wednesday, has claimed that the President is going to "wait and see" until July 21 and that he will issue a call to the political parties to form a national unity government if Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai does not quit by then.

"The President will wait until July 21. He will ask the parties to form national unity government if the PM does not resign by then," Mahat said, speaking at the Reporters Club Thursday. He added, "There will be a new government within the next two weeks."

According to him, the President's call for unity government will come with a timeline. If the parties fail to form such a government a party that is able to get support of the majority -- based on the position of the parties in the dissolved Constituent Assembly -- will form the majority government, Mahat said.

He also said the NC would announce its Prime Ministerial candidate once the President issued the call for consensus government.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same programme, UCPN (Maoist) politburo member Harobol Gajurel warned of political confrontation if the President ousted PM Bhattarai without political consensus.

"The President cannot cross the constitutional limits," he said, accusing the opposition parties of unnecessarily provoking the President to make a confrontational move.

Likewise, UML leader Pradip Gyawali said resignation of the Prime Minister could be the starting point of dialogue between the parties for a package deal. nepalnews.com