Thailand's Democrat Party claims it is 'ready to govern'

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THAILAND'S main opposition party called for an emergency parliamentary session yesterday to prove its majority, a key step to forming the next government and ending months of political paralysis.

The Democrat Party's formal appeal indicated it was confident of forming a government following the court-ordered ouster last week of the ruling coalition, which had been packed with allies of the fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup amid allegations of corruption, and sentenced to two years imprisonment in October for violating a conflict of interest law. He now lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates.

A new administration would bring some semblance of stability to the Southeast Asian nation which has been gripped by political uncertainty since August when protesters, driven by a single-minded hatred for Thaksin and his allies, seized the prime minister's office and overran the capital's two airports in a bid to topple the government. The week-long airport siege left more than 300,000 foreign travelers stranded and dealt a crippling blow to the economy and the crucial tourism industry.

The Constitutional Court last Tuesday dissolved the pro-Thaksin People's Power Party and two other parties in the ruling coalition for electoral fraud, ending the siege. The court also banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and 24 other law makers from politics for five years.

Democrat Party Secretary-General Suthep Thuagsuban filed the motion yesterday for the extraordinary session with the speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament. Oxford-educated party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva would likely become the next prime minister if the Democrat Party comes to power.

"The Democrat Party is ready to govern. We will do our best to gear the country out of a crisis," Abhisit, 44, said. "We will boost the confidence of foreign investors and tourists."