Maoists have said that there will be Jana Andolan (People’s Movement) III if an interim government was not formed within a couple of days.

Maoist chairman Prachanda is said to have made clear his position to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala that they would not wait for joining the interim government if that was not formed by Friday, reports The Himalayan Times daily.

Maoist set the deadline of Friday as Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is leaving for India to participate in the 14th SAARC summit on Sunday.

Most of the central leaders of Maoists during the informal meeting of the central secretariat on Sunday suggested the party leadership that it would be meaningless to join the interim government, which would not be able to hold the constituent assembly election in mid-June, as decided by the eight political parties.

“We cannot wait for more than two to three days for the formation of the interim government. If the prime minister is not ready to form the interim government by then, there is no alternative to the third peaceful Jana Andolan, which will force the government to declare the date for assembly election,” the paper quoted Dev Gurung, a member of the Maoist Talks Team and deputy leader of the Maoist parliamentary party as saying.

The formation of an interim government was delayed due to dispute among ruling seven party alliance and the Maoists about division of key portfolios in the interim government.

Various rounds of talks between top leaders of eight political parties and four major parties of the eight party coalition remained inconclusive as they failed to make consensus on division of portfolios.

All the parties are demanding key portfolios in the interim government.

The meeting also discussed how to launch the third Jana Andolan to lead the country towards a republican order, as the government did not take any action against the king despite the instruction of the interim parliament on February 21 for his disrespect to the interim constitution on Democracy Day.

Suggestions have come that the Koirala-led government does not want to take action against the king despite the parliamentary order, Gurung said.

The summit meeting of the ruling seven party alliance and the Maoists on November 8, 2006 agreed to form the interim government inclusive of Maoists by December 1, 2006 to hold the elections of the constituent assembly by mid June this year.