Court disbands governing party in Thailand

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Thai Premier Somchai, who has been forced to govern the country from the northern city of Chiang Mai since Wednesday, resigned after the nation's Constitutional Court dissolved Thailand's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud. After the court’s decision, anti-government protesters promised to end their occupation of Bangkok's airports, and international flights were expected to resume Friday.

Now, the coalition government party members will switch to a new "shell" party already set up and they said they would vote for a new prime minister on Dec. 8, setting the stage for another flashpoint in Thailand's three-year political crisis. Chaowarat Chandeerakul, a construction mogul and first deputy prime minister, was named interim leader, an official told Reuters.

Somchai, accused of being a proxy of ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, his brother-in-law, accepted the ruling with equanimity. "It is not a problem. Now I will be a full-time citizen," he said, according to a report by The Associated Press. Anti-government protesters, meanwhile, cheered Somchai's fall after nearly 2 months in power and their leader said they would halt all rallies. "We've finished our duty. If a puppet government returns or a new government shows its insincerity in pushing for political reform, we will return," said People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, leader Sondhi Limthongkul.

The disbandment will intensify a battle for power between elected politicians and opponents in the military, bureaucracy and royalist elite who want to appoint their leaders.

But, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the head of state, didn’t comment on the struggles when he addressed a ceremonial event yesterday to mark his Dec. 5 birthday. Somchai's People's Power Party, the Machima Thipatai Party and the Chart Thai Party were found guilty of committing fraud in the December 2007 elections that brought the coalition to power.

"Dishonest political parties undermine Thailand's democratic system," said Court President Chat Chalavorn.

The ruling sends Somchai and 59 executives of the three parties into political exile and bars them from politics for five years. Of the 59, 24 are lawmakers who will also have to resign their parliamentary seats. But lawmakers of the three dissolved parties who escaped the ban can join other parties, try to cobble together a new coalition and then choose a new prime minister.

Until then, Deputy Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul will become the caretaker prime minister, said Suparak Nakboonnam, a government spokeswoman. However, Chavarat told Bloomberg News after the ruling that he was unaware of his status.

Proxy of ousted PM
The anti-government protesters accuse Somchai of being a proxy of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the alliance's original target. Thaksin, who is Somchai's brother-in-law, was deposed in a 2006 military coup and has fled the country to escape corruption charges.

The PAD, who dress in yellow which they say symbolizes their devotion to Thailand's much-revered king, are backed by the Bangkok business elite and middle classes, along with elements in the military and the palace. Its protests led to the coup, which toppled Thaksin and they took to the streets again in May this year. Somchai's predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was forced out in September for receiving payment for a TV cooking show. Thaksin, whose supporters dress in red, is popular with Thailand's rural and urban poor.

"It was the first time I have seen a court give a judgment so quickly after the closing arguments," said Vorajet Pakeerat, a constitutional law professor at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. "Many people will be angry at the decision as there was no due process."Meanwhile, the court ruling also prompted Thailand to postpone a summit of Southeast Asian leaders scheduled for later this month, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said. It will likely be moved to March, he added.

The unrest has taken a heavy toll on travelers stranded in Thailand by the crisis, with two Canadians and a Dutchman dying in road accidents as they tried to flee from airports to the south. The court ruling also prompted Thailand to postpone a summit of Southeast Asian leaders scheduled for later this month.