BIKRAM RAI WALKING SHADOW: NC President Sushil Koirala at the party's Central Working Committee meeting in Sanepa on Wednesday afternoon. The party unanimously named Koirala as its candidate for prime minister earlier in the day.

With President Yadav's second deadline for a consensus looming, Nepal's leaders this week tried to take advantage of each other's greed for power.

The Nepali Congress finally pushed aside internal rivalries to put up party president Sushil Koirala as its prime ministerial candidate. The Maoists quickly signalled that they could agree to this as long as it formed part of a 'package deal'. That is probably a code word for key ministries for the Maoists in case the NC has prime ministership.

But the package will most likely also include NC acquiescence on an executive presidentship and federalism, two stumbling blocks in the draft constitution which the NC had steadfastly not agreed to. However, the Maoist calculation could also be that it sees in Koirala a personality singularly lacking in charisma and popularity which would give the NC an electoral disadvantage in the next elections.

It is unlikely that the NC will agree to abandon its stand on mixed system of governance in the new constitution. "The contentious issues of the constitution cannot be a part of the ongoing negotiations. It must be decided by the future CA," NC leader Laxman Ghimire told Nepali Times.

But there are those within the party who will be urging Koirala to agree to the Maoist deal because of the perceived incumbent advantage in the next elections.

Contentious elements in the new constitution like system of governmence and state structure are going to be divisive issues in the elections anyway, and political observers say it would be premature for the NC to agree to them as a pre-condition to lead the government.

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