Nepal's Maoists said yesterday they were prepared to give up their claim to the first presidency of the newly republican country in order to resolve a post-monarchy political deadlock.

The former rebels, however, said they did not want their main political rivals to have the job.

"We have decided to give up the claim for the presidential post to end the ongoing deadlock but we won’t accept presidential candidacies from any other political parties.' senior Maoist official Barsha Man Pun told AFP.

"The ceremonial president should be chosen from civil society," Pun said.

Nepal took a historic step last week when a Maoist-dominated constitutional assembly officially ended the world's last Hindu monarchy, but the parties are still wrangling over how they should fill the political void.

The ultra-leftists -- who signed a landmark peace deal in 2006 -- had said their election victory in April polls meant they deserved the prime ministerial and presidential positions in a new government.

But rival parties had said the Maoists should not be allowed to hold both positions as it would give the ex-guerrillas too much power.

Nepal's peace minister rejected the latest Maoist proposal and accused the ex-rebels of trying to establish a dictatorship.

"It is not for the Maoists to decide on the criteria for a president." peace minister Ram Chandra Poudel, a senior member of the Nepali Congress party, told AFP

"We have acknowledged the Maoists as the biggest party but the way they are behaving shows they want to form a totalitarian government,' said Poudel, referring to the fact that the presidency would be a ceremonial role.