A meeting of the two parties at Singha Durbar on Monday decided to seek consensus with other political parties to amend the constitution for forming the next government. The two parties will try to persuade Nepali Congress to withdraw its conditions but are prepared to move ahead without the NC if the latter refuses.

The seven-party alliance (SPA) as mentioned in the interim constitution is effectively dead.

"The ongoing political stalemate should not continue and all other political parties should seek consensus to find a way out of the crisis if Nepali Congress doesn't withdraw its stance," said UML leader Ishwar Pokharel, who attended the meeting.

The two parties' meeting concluded that NC's demand for induction of an opposition leader into the Security Council is not appropriate.

"An opposition party should never claim representation in the Security Council," said Pokharel.

The Maoists had left the SPA negotiating table on Sunday after NC demanded representation of opposition party in the Security Council.

The meeting decided to introduce a proposal at Wednesday's CA meeting to amend the constitution.

The seven political parties have already agreed to amend the current constitution to enable a simple majority to appoint the president.

"We will first try to seek consensus with Nepali Congress also. But we will introduce a non-government bill to amend the constitution if NC doesn't withdraw its demand by Wednesday," said senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai.

He said the process of forming the next government will begin once the interim constitution is amended and a new president elected through a simple majority of CA members.

A source close to the UML source said the Maoists, during the meeting, agreed to the UML claim for the post of president. However, Dr Bhattarai said, "We didn't discuss the issue of the next president during the meeting. The issue of power sharing will come up only after the constitution is amended."

UML leader Pokharel said, "The Maoists are very positive about the UML's claim for president."

When reminded that the Maoist secretariat has already decided to propose chairman of Nava Janabadi Morcha Ram Raja Prasad Singh for president, Pokharel said, "The Maoist argument that the presidential candidate should not be someone who has lost in the CA poll is meaningless."

He said it's the UML's internal business whom it selects as its presidential candidate. The UML has informally proposed outgoing general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal for the top post.

However, Deb Gurung, a Maoist minister, speaking at a program, categorically rejected the possibility of Nepal becoming president, arguing that he had lost the elections in both the constituencies he contested.

A Maoist source also said the party will never accept Nepal as president. "Our first preference is Ramraja Prasad Singh and we may settle for Sahana Pradhan only if our efforts for Singh fail," the source said.

Following the meeting with the Maoists, the UML held a separate meeting with the NC and urged the latter to withdraw its demand for opposition representation in the Security Council. However, the NC reiterated its stance arguing that representation of the opposition in the Security Council is required in the special democracy that obtains. "A demand for opposition representation in the Security Council would be irrelevant only in a normal democracy," said NC spokesperson Arjun Narsing KC, who attended the meeting.

He said the NC's demand is very relevant in the existing situation where the Maoists will head both the armies -- Nepali Army and rebel army (People's Liberation Army) --following the formation of a new government.