More than two months after his election, the prime minister, Jhala Nath Khanal, has yet to finalise his cabinet. As of mid-April Mr Khanal had appointed 12 ministers from his own party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), or CPN (UML), along with four ministers from his main coalition partner, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), or UCPN (M). But disagreements over how to distribute the most powerful ministries-notably home affairs-have prevented the appointment of a full cabinet. As a result, opposition parties, led by the Nepali Congress (NC), are already calling for Mr Khanal's resignation-threatening to plunge Nepal back into political crisis.

Mr Khanal's election by the constituent assembly (the transitional legislature) in early February had raised hopes that the country would at last have a stable government, after the seven months of political paralysis that had followed the resignation of the previous prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal. The early signs were encouraging, with four members of the UCPN (M) appointed to the cabinet on March 4th, ending a month of speculation about whether the former rebel Maoists would participate in government. The UCPN (M) is the largest party in the 601-member constituent assembly, with 238 seats. Mr Khanal was elected prime minister only with the backing of the Maoists, and the stability of his administration depends on retaining their support-or, at least, on not driving them into outright opposition. However, relations between the CPN (UML) and the UCPN (M) have since broken down, with the Maoists accusing the CPN (UML) of reneging on a seven-point agreement under which that party agreed to support Mr Khanal as a candidate for prime minister.

The seven-point agreement, concluded on the eve of the prime ministerial ballot by Mr Khanal and the Maoist leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, provided no detailed guide for the distribution of ministerial portfolios. However, the agreement stated that powerful portfolios, such as defence and home affairs, should be shared in an "appropriate" manner. The defence portfolio is presently held by a member of the CPN (UML), Bishnu Prasad Poudel. The details of the agreement caused considerable concern among the ranks of the CPN (UML) when they became public; party members accused Mr Khanal of making too many concessions to the Maoists. The prime minister therefore faces considerable pressure not to appear to be seen as making further concessions to the Maoists in relation to the home affairs portfolio.

One clause in the agreement has proved particularly controversial: a proposal to create a security force either composed solely of the remnants of the Maoist's People's Liberation Army (PLA), or a force comprising both former PLA fighters and members of other security forces. The future of the estimated 19,000 former rebel fighters has dogged Nepali politics since the 2006 ceasefire that ended the country's decade-long civil war. In late January Mr Dahal formally relinquished command of the PLA to a committee made up of representatives of Nepal's main political parties.