KATHMANDU: Nepal delayed filling its cabinet on Wednesday because one party in the ruling coalition has failed to agree which candidates it wants to put forward, politicians said.

The new multi-party government is under intense media and public pressure to speed up the process of wresting control from King Gyanendra and any delays to the cabinet expansion were seen as hampering that process.

“Our party has already prepared the list of candidates but it seems as if the Nepali Congress Democratic (NCD) party is still undecided so the expansion of the cabinet is taking time,” said Rajendra Pandey of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).

Nepal’s parliament was reinstated at the end of April, after weeks of massive anti-royal protests organised by seven parties in loose alliance with Maoist rebels that forced King Gyanendra to end his 14 months of direct rule.

The interim government named a skeleton cabinet of seven ministers from three of the parties, but said that it would be expanded to a maximum of 21 posts to quickly assert civilian control as demanded by the protestors.

With or without the expanded cabinet, a proclamation stripping King Gyanendra’s of some of his powers would be put before parliament as planned, a leader of the NCD said.—AFP