By REUTERS
KATHMANDU, Oct 5 (Reuters) — Nepal's constituent assembly elections will be delayed, after the the ruling coalition failed to break a political deadlock with Maoist former rebels, a leading government minister said.
The delay, if confirmed by the election commission, would be a major blow to a November peace deal that ended the Maoists' decade-long civil war against the monarchy - a revolt that caused more than 13,000 deaths.
"Seven political parties have recommended to the prime minister to delay the elections for now," Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel told Reuters.
"The prime minister will formally request the election commission to postpone the vote."
The election was a key demand of the Maoists during their civil war, who wanted the assembly to abolish the monarchy and give them what they had been fighting for since 1996 - a republic.
But the Maoists walked out of the government last month, after the other political parties opposed fresh demands to abolish the monarchy ahead of the elections and introduce full proportional representation.
Analysts say the Maoists decision to leave the government and introduce new demands highlighted the growing pains of rebels who spent years in the jungles of Nepal but now face the possibility of losing an election as they enter the mainstream.
Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara had earlier said they did not want the election delayed.
"We want the election on schedule," Mahara said before the minister's announcement.
Media reports said the United Nations, which will also monitor the polls, had urged the Maoists to soften their stand on the elections.
Many Nepalis were sick of the unsettled politics.
"I am fed up. Political parties must soften their stands and resolve their difference immediately," 37-year-old Bina Pokharel, a Kathmandu housewife, said earlier on Friday.
