Samak steps back

By Eakarach Sattaburuth, Pradit Ruangdit and Penchan Charoensuthipan

Ousted prime minister Samak Sundaravej ended his campaign to regain his position on Friday - and street protesters of the People's Alliance Democracy vowed to step up their campaign to overthrow the rest of the government.

Mr Samak's decision was revealed yesterday by Theerapol Nopparampa, his close aide, after he spent about 50 minutes meeting Mr Samak at his home.

Mr Samak asked him to tell PPP members that he has tried his best to protect democracy. He would now end his effort and let the party decide on its own future.

Mr Samak's remarks have led to speculation that he will quit as PPP leader as well.

PPP registration officer Samarn Lertwongrat said he had not been informed about Mr Samak's resignation as party leader.

Mr Samarn said any such move would only take effect when the besieged former prime minister's resignation letter reached the party's secretary-general or himself.

PPP MPs held a meeting yesterday after the vote for a new prime minister in the House was postponed to next Wednesday due to a lack of a quorum.

Coalition parties and about 70 PPP MPs who opposed Mr Samak's nomination refused to attend the House for the vote.

The MPs asked deputy PPP leaders Somchai Wongsawat and Sompong Amornwiwat and secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee to convince Mr Samak to withdraw his nomination, though they said he should have the right to nominate someone for the job.

Sompong Amornwiwat, a key PPP contender for post, said the coalition parties would announce in the next two days the formation of the new alliance.

On Monday, the PPP will meet to select a member to stand for prime minister.

Mr Sompong said the party will tell coalition partners the name of its contender on Tuesday before voting takes place in the House on Wednesday.

According to PPP sources, deputy PPP leaders, Mr Somchai or Mr Sompong, are likely to be nominated.

House Speaker Chai Chidchob postponed the vote after a group of PPP MPs and members of the other five coalition partners opted not to attend the House meeting to elect the new prime minister. The next meeting of the House was scheduled for Wednesday.

Wichian Udomsak, an Amnat Charoen MP and member of the Friends of Newin Chidchob group that pushed for the reinstatement of Mr Samak, said in his opinion parliament might be dissolved if the House cannot elect a new prime minister next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, three Chart Thai MPs, Pathum Thani MP Ekkapot Panyaem, Ang Thong MP Paradorn Prissananantakul, and Si Sa Ket MP Siripong Angkhasakulkiat explained Chart Thai's decision not to attend the House meeting yesterday.

They said it was due to disagreement within the PPP on the nomination of Mr Samak.

They agreed to boycott the meeting to ensure it was postponed.

A Chart Thai source said party leader Banharn Silpa-archa on Thursday night received calls from PPP groups that supported and opposed Mr Samak's nomination.

Mr Siripong said Chart Thai was not playing political games with the PPP as alleged by PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang, adding that: ‘‘We want to let the major party finalise its nomination first.''

Mr Siripong said the PPP should take into account people's opinions on its nomination of prime minister, while the next prime minister should be someone capable of solving the country's crisis.

Somsak Prissananantakul, a deputy Chart Thai leader, said postponing the vote would allow all parties more time to think about the country's direction.

Another deputy Chart Thai leader, Kanchana Silpa-archa, daughter of party leader Banharn, said the six coalition parties remain united.

Yesterday morning, about 1,000 progovernment demonstrators led by the Khon Rak Udon group (Love Udon People) turned up in front of parliament to support the reinstatement of Mr Samak.

The demonstrators were from Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Roi Et, Ratchaburi and Samut Prakan provinces.

Clad in red tops, they expressed their anger when they heard about the lack of quorum in the House and that voting was postponed. The group's leader, going under the alias Pey Klong Toey, vowed to list the names of PPP MPs who were absent from the House, and proposed the party expel them. They were all elected because of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's influence, not because of their own talent, he said.

Earlier report:

Ousted Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej ended his campaign to regain his position on Friday - and street protesters of the People's Alliance Democracy vowed to step up their campaign to overthrow the rest of the government.

Mr Samak's aide Teerapon Noprampa told the media the ex-premier has decided not to pursue a fight to take the prime minister's post when parliament meets again on Wednesday.

He said Mr Samak had left the decision on his future in the hands of the People Power party - and his PPP said it would not try to re-install him as government leader.

Possible candidates for the post now are mainly The Three S's.

* Acting Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who has 20 years' experience as a judge, but who is also brother-in-law of disgraced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

* Sompong Amornwiwat, a career policeman from northern Thailand once a successful businessman.

* Surapong Suebwonglee, a medical doctor, "young" at 51, and currently the economic czar. He is the "father" of the 30-baht health-card system and was the country's first minister of information and communications technology.

Mr Samak's effective decision to step back and out of the government is unlikely to make things better - but could stop them from getting worse.

None of these current ministers is acceptable to the PAD as prime minister.

"We will still carry on our protest and call for the resignation of the whole Cabinet after Samak has stepped down. The government is a proxy, a puppet, for Thaksin Shinawatra and his legacy which we have seen as an evil system for this country," fellow PAD core leader Suriyasai Katasila told The Associated Press news agency.

Several alternatives to Samak have been put forward, mostly by the media.

Chart Thai Party leader Banharn Silpa-archa, who served as prime minister in one of the country's more poorly regarded administrations in 1995-96, could be another coalition choice - although he has stated he does not want the job.

Abhisit Vejjajiva of the opposition Democrat Party, which holds the second highest number of seats in the House, said he would be willing to lead a national or unity government.

"It's time to get the country out of its crisis, and to do that we need leaders with a fresh attitude," he said.

(Additional material by BangkokPost.com)