Nepal's former Maoist rebels and mainstream parties failed to meet a deadline to form a new government, leaving the Himalayan nation in political limbo, an official said Saturday. The Maoists, who won the most seats in April assembly elections, blamed Nepal's "traditional style of dirty politics" for the failure to form a government.
"We've missed the deadline for presenting the president with a consensus for government formation due to the petty interests of some party leaders," senior Maoist leader Chandra Prakash Gajurel told AFP. On Tuesday, Ram Baran Yadav, the first president of republican Nepal, extended by three days the deadline he had given for the parties to reach agreement on a Maoist-led new government.