KATHMANDU, Jan 14 (AFP): Nepal's government said Friday it was determined to go ahead with long-delayed elections in the insurgency-racked Himalayan nation after Maoist rebels spurned an ultimatum to resume peace talks. "There's no other option except to declare elections," government spokesman Mohammad Mohsin told AFP. "Those who don't agree should quit the government." Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had said he would hold polls if the rebels did not agree to resume talks by Thursday midnight to end the deadly nine-year revolt aimed at ousting the monarchy and installing a communist republic. Maoists who control wide swathes of rural Nepal rejected the demand and warned they would sabotage the polls. They want elections held instead for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution that would decide the monarchy's future role. King Gyanendra dismissed parliament in 2002 and assumed executive powers amid deepening political turmoil and spiralling violence in Nepal where nearly half the population live below the poverty line. He reappointed Deuba as prime minister last year after firing him in 2002 when he said he could not call an election due to Maoist violence. Now analysts say Deuba has little choice but to go ahead with the polls if he wants to keep his job.
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