The five-party coalition failed to hammer out a power-sharing deal by Saturday night, with less than a day remaining of the deadline given by President Bidya Devi Bhandari to claim government leadership.

Several bilateral and multilateral meetings between ruling party leaders and between the leaders of the governing alliance and the CPN-UML, which is likely to be the main opposition, failed to yield any decisive outcome, leaders privy to the negotiations said.

Incumbent Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba wants to lead the new government first, before handing over the prime minister’s baton to CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Dahal too wants to first lead the government, and neither is budging, according to a Congress leader who has been working as a go-between for the two leaders.

But he said the ruling alliance would arrive at a decision on Sunday when “it will either name a new prime minister based on consensus or ask the President to extend the deadline for government formation.”

The Baluwatar meeting of the ruling alliance on Saturday agreed to give continuity to the ruling alliance. But leaders at the meeting said there was no agreement on who leads the new government first.

“If all attempts fail, we are thinking of giving Dahal a year to lead the government first, while the Nepali Congress gets the President and Speaker, or the Speaker can be given to the Maoist Centre too,” the Congress leader said. “But if Deuba continues as prime minister, the Maoists will surely want key ministries at the centre as well as several provincial chief ministers.”

As the largest party, we also have the option of forming the government under Article 76 (3), but we are not thinking along those lines yet, the Nepali Congress leader said. “For, even in that case, we would need the support of the UML or the Maoist Centre to elect the President, Vice President and chief ministers.”

There were fears this alliance may fracture due to tussles over the government, Beduram Bhusal, the general secretary of CPN (Unified Socialist), told the Post. “But in today’s meeting, we have agreed to keep the alliance intact. We will decide on who leads the government first in our Sunday morning meeting.”

The deadline given by President Bhandari to the members of the House of Representatives to form a new government expires at 5pm, Sunday.

As no party secured a clear majority in the House to form a government single-handedly, in accordance with Article 76 (1) of the constitution, the President's Office on December 18 asked lawmakers to come up with a proposal to form a government with the support of two or more parties represented in the House, as per Article 76 (2).

Information and Communications Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki also said that the issue of government formation would be resolved on Sunday. Karki, speaking to reporters after the alliance’s meeting, said the process of new government formation would start within the timeframe given by the President.

“The government will be formed from within this coalition. We will sit again and make the agreement public tomorrow [Sunday],” Karki said. “The question of who serves as prime minister first is not as important; what matters is taking the country forward in line with people’s aspirations.”

According to a participant in Saturday’s meeting, the leaders also discussed how the Congress, the Maoist Centre, and the Unified Socialist would divide the prime minister's term. “In today’s meeting, leaders also discussed the modality of the Congress and the Maoist Centre heading the government for two years each and the Unified Socialist holding the position for the last one year,” said the leader. “However, any decision to his effect has yet to be made.”

On Saturday, Congress lawmakers said the new government should be led by Deuba, the Congress president.

Congress leader Badri Pandey said there is huge pressure on the largest party in Parliament to form the government under its leadership. “We have even collected the signatures of the party's legislators to ensure the same,” Pandey, who represents the rival faction of Congress, told the Post.

That is far from the unanimous view in the ruling coalition though. The Congress managed to lead the government despite having just 23 direct seats in the last parliament, said Bhusal, general secretary of the Unified Socialist. “So it is not necessary that the largest parliamentary party always leads a coalition government.”

On the other hand, a Maoist leader close to Dahal questioned the alliance's continuity if his party does not get to lead the new government.

“We have other alternatives as well; we are not always obliged to obey the Congress,” he said, clarifying, however, that the party would wait till Sunday before arriving at a final decision.

Dahal’s hand has been strengthened with the UML’s backing, after UML chair KP Oli assured him of uninterrupted premiership for the first two and a half years of the five year term. A group of UML leaders is said to be in constant touch with the Maoist chair. UML leaders, however, refuse to admit they are negotiating with the Maoist Centre, saying such negotiations can start only when the Maoists ditch the ruling coalition.

Also on Saturday, UML Chairman Oli met Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur and senior Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi to discuss various power-sharing options.

When asked what would happen if the ruling alliance cannot forge an agreement by the Sunday deadline, Bhusal, the Unified Socialist general secretary, said that possibility would not arise.

The constitution states that the process to appoint the prime minister shall be completed within 35 days after the final election results are out. The Election Commission had published the final results of the November 20 vote on December 14 and submitted it to the President on December 15.