Thaksin due to address Thai supporters

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-14  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THOUSANDS of supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra started arriving at a Bangkok stadium yesterday to hear his "phone-in" speech, which organizers hope will sway votes for a new premier next week.

The rally was meant to "stop the military intervention" in politics, rally organizer Jatuporn Prompan said, adding that the former ruling coalition was trying to cobble together a new alliance after some of its partners joined the opposition.

Thailand's parliament will vote for a new prime minister tomorrow, with the opposition Democrat Party favorite to emerge at the head of a weak coalition government.

"The military and the Democrats are launching a disguise coup, claiming to have royal backing and coercing our friends to form a Democrat-led government," Jatuporn said.

Dozens of buses arrived at a downtown soccer stadium, unloading hundreds of red-shirted supporters with anti-military banners and slogans praising Thaksin.

Parliament will vote for a new prime minister because Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, was forced to step down after a court found his Peoples' Power Party guilty of fraud in the December 2007 election that brought it to power.

The court ordered the party and two others in the coalition disbanded. All three have regrouped under new names.

Thaksin, the only elected prime minister to complete a full term in office, was ousted in a 2006 coup and accused of corruption and abuse of power after being re-elected to a second term. He is expected to rally support for the latest incarnation of his party, now named Phuea Thai.

The opposition Democrat Party insists it has enough support from defectors in the previous government to elect its leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the new premier.

Thai newspapers reported both camps were spending hundreds of millions of baht to enlist MPs on their side. One newspaper said the price had risen to 50 million baht (US$1.4 million) per MP.