Nepal's ex-rebels won't form coalition

KATMANDU, NEPAL — Nepal's former rebels, who won the most seats in April's national assembly elections, said Tuesday that they would not form a coalition government because lawmakers did not elect their candidate for president.

Prachanda, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), said the party had "lost the moral grounds to lead."

Maoist-backed independent Ramraja Singh lost Monday's presidential vote to Ram Baran Yadav, who was backed by the second-, third- and fourth-largest parties in the Himalayan nation.