Thai opposition senses victory

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-8  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THAILAND'S main opposition party yesterday called for an emergency session of parliament to prove it is capable of forming the next government and putting an end to months of political chaos.

The call came as loyalists of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra struggled to stay in power.

A new administration should bring some semblance of stability to a nation which has been gripped by political uncertainty since August when protesters ?? driven by hatred for Thaksin and his allies ?? seized the prime minister's office and later overran the capital's two airports in a bid to topple the government.

The opposition Democrat Party said it would ask the speaker of parliament today to call an extraordinary session of the lower house so that it can prove it has a majority. Both Thaksin's allies and the opposition say they have enough support to form a government.

"If the Democrat Party forms the government, I will try to boost confidence and revive the tourism industry and the image of the country," said 44-year-old party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former economics lecturer who will become the next prime minister if his party comes to power.

Thailand's political parties are seeking to fill a power vacuum created after a court last week dissolved the pro-Thaksin People's Power Party and two other parties in the ruling coalition for electoral fraud.

The court also banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and 24 other law makers from politics for five years.

PPP members regrouped in the new Phuea Thai (For Thais) Party, but have seen some coalition partners defecting to the Democrat Party or its coalition.

The Phuea Thai Party appeared increasingly isolated in its loyalty to Thaksin, who was thrown out of power in a 2006 military coup.