Excerpts from an interview with Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary CPN (UML)

. Our party has decided not to participate in the government led by Lokendra Bahadur Chand as it doesn't have any authority. The executive authority is vested in the king. This government is 100 percent dependent on the king and palace. It is neither accountable to the people nor responsible towards the political parties. Participating in such a government would besmirch the image of UML.

. Despite having reservations about the process of formation of the government, we acknowledge that it is a government, and will laud all its good accomplishments. We want the government to hold dialogue with the Maoists and open the doors for a political way out of this situation.

. The government should also fix a date for elections and conduct them in a free and fair manner. The UML is not in a hurry and we are not saying that elections should be held immediately, but we can't withhold elections for ten years if the problem of insurgency is not resolved by then.

. We believe that Nepal needs the monarchy in order to protect its sovereignty. The ethnic communities need to be unified, but the king should rise above daily politics and simply remain a symbol of national unity. He should be committed to democracy and to the interests of the people. Although we are a communist party, we want to move ahead with a constitutional monarchy. We believe that multiparty democracy, together with the constitutional monarchy, can address the problems facing the country at the moment.