KATMANDU, June 11 -- Three opposition leaders asked King Birendra Sunday for permission to to form a coalition government to replace the nation's first communist regime, in power since November. Asking the king for a chance to form a government to replace the Communist Party, which has ruled since November, were Parliamentary Party leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, Rashtriaya Prajatantra Party Chairman Lokendra Bahadur Chand and Aadvana Party President Gejendra Narayan Singh. The three arrived at the royal palace in the same car. Together they control 104 seats in the House of Representatives while the communists have 87. 'The king should give us a chance to form an alternative government, ' Chand said after the meeting. 'The house cannot be dissolved under the present circumstances.' The opposition leaders urged the king Friday to convene a special session of Parliament to consider a no-conficence resolution against the minority communist government. The king scheduled the special session for June 16. Communist Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikari then asked the king to dissolve the House of Representatives and call immediate elections. His request was seconded Sunday by Deputy Prime Minister Madav Nepal. Nepal, who is also the ruling party's secretary-general, told the Communist Party newspaper Chalphal, 'The king has to (call for elections) as recommended by the prime minister. There is no alternative. 'If he does not call elections the monarchy will come into controversy,' Nepal said. 'People are waiting anxiously for further developments. If elections are not called by the king, the party cannot control its cadre nationwide.'
Earlier, the Rashtriaya Prajatantra Party, the swing party with 20 votes, withdrew its support for the minority government, making the fall of the communist government inevitable during the special session. Talks between the communists and the RPP royalists broke down, and the possiblity of another round of elections -- the third in five years -- looms large. 'The prime minister should not have called for snap polls without facing the no-confidence motion in Parliament, although he has the right to dissolve the Parliament,' said Rajeshwor Devkota, co-chairman of the Rashtriaya Prajatantra Party, said.
