DEEPENDRA BAJRACHARYA OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: Rohit Kushait from Janakpur looks in at the gate of President Yadav's residence at Dhapashi on Saturday while the president was meeting journalists. Kushait wanted the president to help him with a land dispute.

The Maoist-led government has been in office for three months, and some of the ex-guerrillas in government admit that waging war was easier.

The Maoists inherited a battered economy, a fuel crisis, a crippling electricity sh ortage and a standstill in development and governance. Although their 'people's war' was largely responsible for some of these problems, Nepalis still expect the Maoists can bring change.

However, the biggest challenge to the party leadership is now from within. The Maoists are holding intense backroom consultations before a conference of nationwide cadre opens on 20 November.

"This is a very crucial meeting," says Sarala Regmi of the Maoist Tharuhat Provincial Council. "The CA is just a transitional compromise; we will not give up until all oppressed people are liberated."

Party sources told Nepali Times that there is strong criticism from within of Maoist ministers, and the hardliners look like they are going to be dominating the conference next week.

The Maoists are also facing pressure from the NC, which has stepped up its rhetoric. The NC's Arjun Narsingh KC said: "It's been three months and the Maoists still haven't fulfilled any of their promises."

He said the NC would not join a reconstituted committee on integration unless three conditions were met: the defining of a 'national party'; a balance of power in the committee; and an agreement on the terms of reference.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal met senior Indian leaders on Wednesday in New Delhi and briefed them on the state of the peace process. The Indians are understood to have urged him strongly to work with the other parties.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee is due here next week and is expected to urge the NC not to play oppositional politics at this time because it could undermine the peace process and delay constitution-drafting.

Dewan Rai