The king late Sunday gave political parties until 5:00 pm (1115 GMT) Monday to recommend a prime minister who could fight a Maoist insurgency and bring the opposition into the government for the first time in two years.

But the deadline passed with 34 political leaders still huddled in talks and one opposition chief vowing to defy the request of the king, who had fired the elected government in 2002.

"We haven't been able to reach unanimous agreement on a candidate," said Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister who heads the Himalayan kingdom's largest party, the Nepali Congress.

"In the present situation there is anyway no question of giving a name to the king. To do so would go against the protest campaign we started. Our movement must continue," Koirala told reporters.

A five-party opposition alliance held weeks of mass demonstrations outside the royal palace, prompting the resignation on May 7 of the king's handpicked prime minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa.

The king opened a dialogue with opposition leaders after Thapa quit, but without any breakthrough.

The king was expected to finalise a choice for prime minister this week, with or without a recommendation by the opposition, a source close to the palace said on condition of anonymity.

Former foreign minister C.P. Bastola, who supports the opposition, said the king likely imposed his deadline because of a visit to Kathmandu planned at the weekend by the new foreign minister of giant neighbour India, Natwar Singh.

"Officially Singh will be here on a religious pilgrimage but it's clear he will also be observing the political situation," said Bastola, who has also been Nepal's ambassador to New Delhi.