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KATHMANDU, June 20 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Thursday offered to step down if the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) asked him to do so and said Nepali Congress was ready to take up the role of main opposition.
But the five fringe parties in the alliance said the SPA should continue the politics of consensus and the parties should reach a package agreement on key issues.

CPN (ML), People's Front Nepal, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and Nepal Sadbhawana Party also said the prime minister should remain in the post at least until a political settlement is reached. The two larger parties-- Maoists and UML-- however did not react to the prime minister's offer.

During the SPA meeting at the PM's residence in Baluwatar, Maoists, backed by UML, proposed that the issue of presidential candidate should be settled through Constituent Assembly following an amendment to the constitution.

"But we (five political parties) said that all issues including nomination of 26 members in the Constituent Assembly should be dealt with in a package," said Chairman of CPN-ML CP Mainali.

He said the five political parties argued that there would be a new polarization in politics if the current consensus broke down.

"Power should be shared among major political parties as per the people's mandate," Mainali said, adding, "People have given a mandate to the Maoists to take the first choice while NC and UML are left to pick up the second and third choices respectively among President, Prime Minister and Chair of the Constituent Assembly."

He also charged that UML was playing the politics of opportunism. "The UML, being the third largest political party, shouldn't have tried to take a chance for the post of president," he said.

Since five of the seven political parties held their stance to settle all key issues --amendment to constitution, implementation of peace agreement and power sharing-- in a package, the protracted meeting failed to reach consensus.

The meeting then directed a seven-party task force to prepare a consensus package Friday afternoon and submit it at the SPA meeting at 3 pm.

Thursday's meeting decided to settle the integration of armies-- Nepali Army and People's Liberation Army--in three months' time. A special committee of experts and representatives of political parties will follow standard norms to integrate PLA combatants into the national army.

NC leaders have proposed that integration of PLA should be based on the one-combatant-one arm formula, meaning that only combatants who have arms could join the national army. However, the Maoists insisted that all combatants should be integrated in the national army and separate battalions of former PLA should be formed. The meeting agreed to let the special committee take a decision on the integration of armies.

During the meeting, small leftist parties in the SPA criticized big parties for failing to control foreign intervention in Nepal's internal affairs.

United Left Front and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party leaders said it was unfortunate for the country that Indian political parties and ambassadors should start dictating to Nepal's parties in every aspect of government formation.