A crucial power-sharing meeting between Maoists and the CPN-UML ended inconclusively in Kathmandu on Tuesday as the two parties failed to sort out differences over the key issue of the election of the president, deepening further the three-month-old political deadlock in Nepal."We held extensive talks on the issue of formation of new government, election of the president and matters related to power sharing but no agreement has yet been reached," CPN-UML central committee member Bhim Rawal, who was also present at the meeting, said."We are still trying to find a common ground and we have continued to stress on moving ahead by maintaining cooperation and collaboration," he said after the meeting between Prachanda and CPN-UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal.Though the talks were moving towards a positive direction, no decision was reached yet on electing the president, he said.CPN-UML, the third largest party in the Constituent Assembly, has claimed the post of president after the Maoists rejected Nepali Congress' proposal to make Girija Prasad Koirala the president.Nepali Congress vice-president Ramchandra Poudyal said there is no possibility of cooperation and collaboration with the Maoists unless they return the seized property and change their behaviour.Unless the Maoists fully honour the Comprehensive Peace Agreement they signed in the past and return the land and property they seized from people we cannot cooperate with them in forming the new government, he said.The Maoists are still carrying out acts of terror, violence, abduction and extortion, he said and asked the Maoist leadership to control their youth wing Young Communist League before forging any alliance, he said.New government could not be formed even three weeks after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala announced his resignation from the post during the Constituent Assembly meeting.The Maoists do not want to share power but they seek our cooperation to form their government, which is impossible, Poudyal said.The Parliament has passed the 5th amendment bill to amend the constitution to include the provision of forming and dissolving a government through a simple majority last week. The Maoists does not command majority in the Constituent Assembly. The Maoists, which has 229 seats in the 601 seat Constituent Assembly needs the support from either Nepali Congress or CPN-UML, which have 115 and 108 seats respectively, to arrive at the magic number of 301 to form a new government.Currently the Maoists are busy holding talks with different political parties and busy in tough negotiations in a bid to form a new government.Maoists are scheduled to meet Nepali Congress senior leaders later in the evening for further discussion to find a way out.Meanwhile, the Constituent Assembly Monday passed the Advanced and Expenditure Bill presented by Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat. Finance Minister Mahat presented Nepalese Rs 73.53 billion Advanced budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 16.This is for the first time in Nepal's history that Advanced Expenditure Bill was introduced to meet government expenditure.
