By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, July 25 (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoists said on Friday they were willing to lead a new government if other political parties guarantee not to bring it down for at least two years while the country's new constitution gets written.

Nepal remains in political limbo three months after an election to a special assembly, which the Maoists won but without a majority, as the parties have failed to agree on forming a coalition.

The former rebels withdrew their bid to head a new coalition this week after lawmakers rejected their candidate for national president, a ceremonial post.

They said they did not want to head a shaky coalition in a country that has seen 16 governments in the past 18 years.

"We are in a very sensitive stage of making a new constitution," senior Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

"Therefore, we need a minimum commitment from other political parties that they will not bring down the government for at least two years."

The elected special assembly is mandated to write the new consitution in two years.

The Maoists, who ended their decade-long conflict under a 2006 peace deal, scored a surprise win in the April election on the promise of creating a new Nepal.

But political instability has undermined the economy and the people, who are among the poorest in the world, face spiralling food and fuel prices.

The former rebels also want their potential partners to accept a "common minimum programme" of the new government based on the Maoist proposals.

"Otherwise, we'll sit in the opposition," Mahara said.

Maoist chief Prachanda, expected to head the new government, met key politicians late on Thursday but there was no agreement on cabinet formation, party officials said.

Analysts said the Maoists must lead the government to give it stability and honour the popular mandate.

As pressure mounted on the Maoists, its potential partners warned against procrastination.

"We can't leave the country without any government for long," said Ishwar Pokharel, a senior member of the Communist UML Party, the third largest group in the assembly. (Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Alex Richardson) (For the latest Reuters news on Nepal see: http://in.reuters.com, for blogs see http://blogs.reuters.com/in)

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