An alliance of nearly two dozen parties has claimed to have the support of enough MPs to form a new government in Nepal following the collapse of the Maoist government earlier this month.

Ishwar Pokharel, leader of the United Marxist Leninist party (UML), on Sunday said 350 MPs from 22 parties in the 601-seat parliament had agreed to put their names to an application to form a coalition.

"With the support of so many lawmakers, it should not be hard to form the government," Pokharel said.

"Even though the Maoists have not given us their support, we will continue to engage with them. We will ask them to join our government," he said.

Political turmoil

The Maoists won 40 per cent of the seats in parliament in landmark elections last year but the sudden resignation of the prime minister on May 4 left other parties struggling to form a viable coalition to run the country.

Prachanda, the former Maoist prime minister, resigned in protest after the president sought to block a bid by his government to sack the country's army chief.

Prachanda wanted to sack General Rookmangud Katawal after he failed to integrate 19,000 former Maoist rebel fighters into the national army, a move which would have cemented the peace deal that ended a decade of civil war.

The army refused, saying the former fighters, who are currently confined to UN-supervised camps, could never become non-partisan soldiers.

The list of MPs has been submitted to the office of the parliamentary chairman for approval.

The alliance has named Madhav Kumar Nepal, a veteran communist leader, as its candidate for the post of prime minister.