One of the major coalition partners in Nepal's interim government quit Wednesday, citing its poor showing in last week's elections, according to dpa. Seven ministers in the interim government belonging to the moderate Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN- UML) handed in their resignations to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. "CPN-UML decided to quit the government, honouring the people's mandate to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) to lead the government," the joint resignation letter said. "We have resigned as directed by the party," Sahana Pradhan, who held the portfolio of foreign minister, told reporters. "The prime minister has asked us to reconsider our decision but that is up to the party. The resignation followed a poor showing by the party in the elections to choose a constituent assembly which will draft Nepal's new constitution and ratify the parliament's decision to abolish the monarchy. Of the results declared for 218 directly contested seats, the CPN- UML has won 31 seats, far behind the Maoists who won 118. The Maoists also lead the vote count for 335 seats which will be decided on the basis of proportional representation. The Maoists have won 1.5 million or about 33 per cent of the 4.5 million votes counted so far in the proportional representation contest. The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML both trail the Maoists by about 10 per cent. The CPN-UML had 85 members in the interim legislature and was the third largest party behind the Nepali Congress and the Maoists. The final results of last Thursday's election are not expected until next week due to re-polling in nearly 19 constituencies. The Nepali Congress is expected to make its position clear on whether to join the government or not in the next few days.
