Biratnagar, May 17:

Former Prime Minister and chairman of Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) Surya Bahadur Thapa today said the Maoists should lead the new government as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly.

Talking to journalists at Biratnagar airport, Thapa said that there was no confusion over the issue on which party should lead the government.

“The party which has established itself as the single largest party in the election has the right to lead the government,” he said.

Saying that some parties were arguing against the Maoists leading the government, Thapa said, “It is not appropriate for any party to raise disputes beyond the international norms and practices.”

He said the largest party should form the government based on consensus. “If the largest party cannot forge a consensus, the second largest party or the third largest or any other party can try to do it.”

Responding to query on execution of republic, Thapa said, “As all the processes and systems are in place, the republic will be easily executed. Execution of republic is not a difficult task now.”

Saying that the political situation in the country was fluid, Thapa called all democratic forces for unity.

“If the democratic forces do not move ahead unitedly, another crisis may occur,” he said.

He said Maoists alone were not behind the defeat of other parties in the April 10 constituent assembly polls and the parties concerned should analyse other reasons for their failures.

“Though a few parties are saying that YCL and the Maoists were behind their defeat, I do not agree with such arguments,” he said.