Nepali Cong chief Koirala projected as next PM

The Maoists have so far refused to be part of the new Constituent Assembly. As the largest party,we will be most accommodating and we would like both UCPN-M and its breakaway group,the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists,to be part of the constitution-making process, Koirala said,after he had requested Prachanda to respect the peoples mandate.

UML leader Madhav Nepal,who Prachanda met in the evening,also asked Prachanda to respect the mandate as that alone will prove his democratic credentials.

But shortly after Koiralas request,Prachanda announced the formation of a five member internal probe team to collect evidence of fraud and manipulation of poll outcome.

The team will submit its report to the party within a week. The report will form the basis for charting out the partys action plan,according to spokesperson Agni Sapkota.

The decision of the party,that its elected members would not take the oath,may create a constitutional crisis,which may in turn mean delay in the formation of the government,and continuation of the electoral government led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi.

With results for all the 240 seats for House under the first-past-the-post system declared,the NC has won 105,followed by 91 of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). With the latest victory in Saptari-two going in favour of the Maoists,the Party emerged as a distant third,with 26 seats.