KATHMANDU -- A top leader of Nepal's largest political party running the coalition government has said a Republican system can never be established in the country if the constituent assembly elections were postponed.

Nepali Congress (NC) Vice-President Gopal Man Shrestha has said that a republican system can never be established in the country if the constituent assembly elections were indefinitely postponed.

"If we really want to establish a republic in the country then we must hold the elections at the earliest," Shrestha was quoted as saying by the private Kantipur FM radio today.

"If elections cannot take place, ultra rightist royalists will benefit with what is transpiring now," he warned.

The crucial polls slated for November 22 was postponed indefinitely after the Maoists put forth pre-conditions and announced stir to disrupt the election.

A political deadlock over Maoist proposals to declare Nepal a republic through the Parliament and implementation of a fully proportional representation system has delayed the elections.

He said that the Maoists should not only stop pressing for the implementation of the motions, but withdraw their decision to quit the government if they want to see a republican system in the country.

"To give an outlet to the crisis, the parties must move ahead by forging a consensus after holding serious consultations," the Nepali Congress Vice-President said.

In a related development, Nepal Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Prithvi Subba Gurung, accused the Maoists of forging a nexus with the pro-palace forces to disrupt the polls.

"Recent Maoist activities have only fortified that nexus," he said.

Charging the Maoists of hatching plots to thwart the elections on the pretext of abolishing the Monarchy, Gurung said that the interim Parliament does not have the authority to overthrow monarchy.

Though the CPN-UML had backed the Maoists' motion for proportionate representative voting system recently, there was serious division within the party over the motion.

Minister for education and sports, Pradip Nepal, also a CPN-UML leader, had said that the government need not entertain the motions proposed by the Maoists.

Notably, the Left parties, including the UML and the Maoists, had jointly passed the motions in the house seeking an arrangement for declaring Nepal a republic and adopting a proportional electoral system.