Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday extended the deadline to form a unity government by three days, after the three major parties failed to forge an agreement, according to dpa. The extension was granted at the political parties request just as the first deadline was set to expire Sunday. Politicians had been engaged in hectic consultation throughout the week, in a bid to form a consensus that did not materialize. Nepal is currently under a caretaker government, after Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal stepped down last week. The president will call for a parliamentary vote to form a majority government if the parties fail to form a consensus government within the extended three-day deadline. Nepal is facing a deadline of August 31 to complete the draft constitution, but is deadlocked over the fate of former guerrillas, who have been confined to camps since a decade-long civil war ended in 2006. If the deadline is not met for drafting the constitution (one of the provisions of the 2006 peace treaty), then the lingering political instability could threaten to derail the peace process.
