Kathmandu, Feb 3 (IANS): Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav Monday urged the Constituent Assembly to elect the country's prime minister according to the statute.

Yadav had given a week's time - which expired Sunday - to the parties for forming a government of national unity.

"As the parties failed to form a national unity government through a political consensus, the president has sent a letter to the Constituent Assembly to elect a new prime minister of the country," Xinhua reported citing a press statement issued by the president's office.

It said since the Constituent Assembly has been elected, forming a government is a matter of urgency.

The Nepali Congress (NC), a major party, has already said that its priority would be to form the government according to the interim constitution. The NC has selected its president Sushil Koirala as its prime ministerial candidate.

The NC is holding talks with the second largest party, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) regarding the formation of the government. The third party, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist has already announced that it would stay out of government formation and would not attend all-party meetings summoned by the NC.

After the president's letter, the parliament secretariat will start the process of election of the prime minister probably this week.