Prachanda in Kathmandu on Monday. (Reuters)

Kathmandu, April 16 (Reuters): The chief of Nepal’s Maoists said today he was open to a referendum on the fate of the monarchy if the government was not prepared to declare the Himalayan nation a republic.

Maoist leader Prachanda's comments come days after Nepal's top election body said a poll determining the monarchy's future should be delayed.

Prachanda repeated Maoist threats of mass protests if the monarchy issue was not swiftly addressed.

The former rebels, who battled the monarchy in a decade-long insurgency that killed around 13,000 people, joined an interim government this month under a peace deal envisaging elections on June 20 for a Constituent Assembly.

The Assembly will decide the fate of the monarchy.

But last week, the Election Commission said it was ill-prepared to hold the polls in June and wants more time.

“We are trying our best to declare a republic through the interim legislature and are appealing to political parties for this,” Prachanda.

“If that is not agreeable, a referendum can also be an alternative,” he said. “Even if that does not work we’ll have to go to the people and tell them to rise against the feudal monarchy.”

Earlier, Baburam Bhattarai, Prachanda’s deputy, said if members of the ruling alliance approved the Maoist plan for a republic, then it would form a “new basis” for the unity between the former guerrillas and other political parties.

He said the June election had been the main basis for unity between seven mainstream political parties and the Maoists, who jointly organised street protests last year forcing King Gyanendra to end his absolute rule.

“That basis has crumbled now and we should find a new one,” Bhattarai said.

But the Maoists vowed not to jeopardise the peace deal that ended a decade-old conflict, nor pull out of the multi-party interim government which they joined this month.

Analysts said if the polls were not held in June, they would have to be delayed until November or December, after the monsoon rains had passed and the Hindu festival season had ended. But the Maoists are not hopeful.