New Delhi, March 19 2009: The Third Front need not name its prime ministerial candidate before the Lok Sabha elections because the country does not follow a presidential system as to who should be the leader, the CPI-M has said.

With several possible prime ministerial contenders emerging in the fledgling alliance of Left and regional parties, CPI-M also said no party is barred from making their own "legitimate efforts" to project their leader as prime minister. It, however, said no party can "dictate" to the others as to who should be the prime minister.

"Ours is not a presidential system. The prime minister is one among the equals and in a coalition, particularly when we have a coalition government, I think it depends on the views of the parties," CPI-M chief Prakash Karat told NDTV when asked whether the Third Front was shying away from projecting a leader for the Lok Sabha elections. "All coalition partners in the Third Front have their own ideas that their leader should be the prime minister. But it is a matter to be decided after the elections. I think that is the position taken by all the parties which have joined together (in Third Front)."

The CPI-M leader said he does not envisage the possibility of him becoming the prime minister in the event of the Left joining any Government after the Lok Sabha polls.

"I don't envisage such a possibility. But I am not intending to give up the post of general secretary of CPI-M," the CPI-M general secretary said when asked whether he saw himself becoming the prime minister that could make him the first communist leader to head a government at the Centre. "I am the general secretary of the party and I have not even fought the parliament election. I don't think I will fight an election in the future as long as I am the general secretary of the party. A party's general secretary is not in Parliament."

On the issue of the CPI-M joining any government, the 62-year-old silver-haired Marxist said the party has to first take a decision. "We will cross the bridge after that."

Asked about the prospects of a UPA led by Congress regaining power with Left support to keep the BJP-led NDA out of power, Karat said, "We are working to ensure there will be no such government. In fact, the main thrust in our election campaign is to see that the Congress is defeated. So we hope we succeed and we have a non-Congress secular government."

Asked about his personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Karat said there are no personal ties, only a political relationship. "It is a normal relationship we have. It is not as people say since we parted company, there has been bitterness or conflict. Nothing of that sort." said Karat, who was the protagonist of the Left's battle against the Indo-US nuclear deal that led to its withdrawal of support to the UPA government after he crossed swords with Manmohan Singh. Karat also said he had written to the prime minister while he was recuperating from his by-pass surgery.

The CPI-M stalwart said he is a bit surprised at the barrage of criticism from several political parties that the fledgling Third Front did not have a common programme or a vision for government. In this context, he specifically referred to senior Congress leader and Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee berating the grouping of Left and regional parties.

Instead, Karat asked why is the Congress not having a common programme with their allies. "In fact, they have practically said that UPA doesn't exist. The Congress Working Committee has declared the party has no national alliance," he said.

Karat said the Congress is going to the elections with its allies minus a common programme. "So, why do they expect us to have a common programme?" he asked. "We are going to come out with our positions and alternative policies. We are discussing that before the elections. But after the elections, if we are in a position to form the government then we get to the real task of having a common programme."