If a controversial figure like Chalerm is picked, protests are likely to resume
By
Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent
BANGKOK: Thailand's Parliament will convene on Monday or Tuesday to elect a new premier following the dissolution of the People Power Party, Chart Thai and Matchima Thipathaya parties, all members of the ruling coalition.
A court had also barred Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics after finding the parties guilty of vote fraud.
Industry Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan and Public Health Minister Chalerm Yubamrung are seen as top contenders for the post. But the election of Mr Chalerm, a controversial former police captain and veteran politician, would be bound to trigger more opposition from the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has campaigned to remove those it sees as proxies of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The nomination of Mr Chalerm would be seen as the coalition's taking a hard line, while Mr Mingkwan, former head of the Mass Communication Organisation of Thailand, would be a more conciliatory choice.
Others said to be in the running are Speaker of the House Chai Chidchob and his deputy Apiwan Wiriyachai. Thai-language daily Thai Rath listed former judge Manit Wityatem as a possible dark horse.
On Sunday, the Puea Thai party - a shell party activated as a vehicle for MPs from the dissolved parties - will choose a leader, in what could be an early signal of the identity of the new premier. Some 80 of 218 MPs from the PPP reportedly signed on the party yesterday.
A 'national unity' government is being suggested to get around the conflict, but the government is unlikely to agree to any move to accommodate the PAD's demand for 'new politics' - a semi-appointed rather than elected Parliament.
The PAD has threatened to reactivate protests if 'a proxy government of the Thaksin regime is set up', or if others try to amend the Constitution to 'whitewash the wrongdoings of...the Thaksin regime, to benefit politicians, or to lessen the power of the King'.
Analysts believe the PAD had suspended protests partly due to the King's birthday on Friday; the warning, they say, shows the current pause is temporary.
