Kathmandu - Three of Nepal's biggest parties Thursday nominated three different presidential candidates ahead of Saturday's election as talks to find a common candidate broke down.

The parliament secretariat said it had received three nominations for president while four names were nominated for vice president.

The nominations followed days of talks to find a common candidate among Nepal's three biggest parties including the Maoists and the Nepali Congress.

However, the talks broke down on Thursday, just hours ahead of the deadline to nominate presidential candidate.

The failure to agree on a common candidate also sparked off a war of words between the three parties and is likely to affect the formation of the new government.

The Maoists, who emerged as the biggest party following elections in April nominated an ethnic leader Ram Raja Singh.

Singh's candidacy has been backed by ethnic Madhesi parties which are demanding greater autonomy for southern Nepal.

Two others nominated by Nepali Congress and the moderate Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninists (CPN-UML) are also from ethnic Madhesi community, in an apparent effort to win the backing of the ethnic group for their candidates.

Both the president and the vice president will be elected by the 601 member constituent assembly on June 19 and requires a simple majority to be confirmed to the post.

The parliament secretariat has previously said that the top two candidates will have to contest a run off vote if no one receives a majority in the first round of polling.

The assembly abolished the monarchy in May but has been unable to form a new government because of growing differences among the main political parties.

The constituent assembly was elected in April as part of Nepal's moves towards peace following the end of a decade-long insurgency that killed nearly 14,000 people. (dpa)