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Thailand's political crisis faces new challenge
Associated Press - September 16, 2008
Sutin Wannabovorn, Bangkok – A new political challenge confronted Thailand on Tuesday with the bitterly divided ruling party debating whether to dissolve Parliament a day ahead of a crucial vote to pick the next prime minister.
Acting Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat emerged from a Cabinet meeting saying the government was hopeful it could avert a new crisis, but acknowledging the dissolution of Parliament was an option.
We "still believe that the issue can be resolved within the party," Somchai told reporters. Somchai himself is the issue.
Executives of the ruling People's Power Party on Monday nominated Somchai – the brother-in-law of deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra – to become the next prime minister. The move angered a faction within the party that vowed to abstain from Wednesday's crucial parliamentary vote, saying that appointing a relative of Thaksin would inflame ongoing anti-government protests.
Party members both for and against Somchai's candidacy have suggested that dissolving Parliament to force new elections was one way to break the deadlock.
A flurry of party meetings was called to seek a solution, with time running out before Wednesday's scheduled vote in the lower house of Parliament. An initial parliamentary vote last Friday was boycotted by members of the ruling party and its partners in the governing six-party coalition.
Somchai, 61, is education minister and became acting prime minister after Samak Sundaravej was forced from office last Tuesday. A court had found Samak guilty of violating the constitution by accepting pay for hosting TV cooking shows.
The soft-spoken, bespectacled Somchai has the kind of bureaucratic experience favored by Thailand's ruling class, having served more than 20 years as a judge before entering government.
His candidacy also won backing Monday from the second-largest member of the coalition, the Chart Thai party.
A dissident faction representing 73 of the party's 233 lawmakers has petitioned the party to reconsider its nomination of Somchai.
"It's not that we dislike Somchai but he will be a focus of attack by (protesters) and the public because he is too close to Thaksin," said Trongsak Thongsri, deputy minister for transport and head of the faction. "If the executive committee cannot provide good reasons why we should nominate Somchai then dissolving the house is one way to resolve the problem."
Thaksin's political legacy is a prime target of anti-government protesters.
Thaksin, a telecommunications billionaire, is accused of buying his way into power and then enriching himself at the country's expense. He was ousted in a 2006 coup following demonstrations by the People's Alliance for Democracy and recently fled to Britain to escape corruption charges.
The alliance and thousands of its supporters have been camped at the prime minister's official compound since Aug. 26. They initially claimed only to be seeking Samak's resignation but have now rejected anyone from the Thaksin-backed People's Power Party.
Anti-government protesters have said they don't plan to leave Thailand's Government House anytime soon.
Protesters occupying the grounds of the prime minister's compound said Monday they planned to truck in sand to cover up the muddy, stinking ground where they pitched tents after storming the compound three weeks ago. They erected scaffolding to help shelter themselves from daily downpours.
The protest campaign's leadership – a mixture of monarchists, members of the military and the urban elite – complain that Western-style democracy gives too much power to the rural poor, who they say are susceptible to vote buying.
They propose replacing an elected Parliament with one that is mostly appointed to keep power in the hands of the educated elite. They have dubbed their proposal "New Politics" and the "New Order."
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