Thai Opposition Set to Form New Government

By VIJAY JOSHI / AP WRITER

BANGKOK — Thailand's opposition on Monday sought an emergency parliamentary session to prove it holds a majority and can form the next government—a surprising reversal of fortunes that some suggested was engineered by the politically potent military.

"The Democrat Party is ready to govern. We will do our best to gear the country out of its crisis," said party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, 44, an Oxford-educated economist. "We will boost the confidence of foreign investors and tourists."

Political chaos in the Southeast Asian nation intensified in August when protesters seized the prime minister's office in a bid to topple the government, accusing it of being a proxy for fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They also occupied the capital's two airports in a weeklong siege that ended last Wednesday.

Thaksin, the country's most powerful politician in years, was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption. He fled the country in July and was sentenced to two years in jail in October for violating a conflict of interest law. He now lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates.

House Speaker Chai Chidchob must seek the king's approval to convene the emergency session requested by the Democrats, but that is considered a formality.

Abhisit, the party's prime ministerial candidate, denied the army was involved in the Democrats' sudden rise. "Everything is done and must be done through the parliamentary process," he said.

The country's No. 2 party until a week ago, the Democrats' newfound strength comes from defections by one-time allies of Thaksin after the collapse of the ruling coalition last week.

The government lost power after the Constitutional Court disbanded Thaksin's People's Power Party and two other partners in the ruling coalition after finding them guilty of electoral fraud.

The People's Power Party was reborn as the Phuea Thai Party, but watched helplessly as many of its former partners joined a Democrat Party-led coalition in a shocking turn of events that some described as a political coup.

The Democrat Party now claims the support of 260 lawmakers—166 of its members and the rest defectors—in the 480-seat House of Representatives. Because of vacancies the chamber currently has 438 members.

Local media speculated that the defections were encouraged by the military, which has often played a key role in politics.

"People in uniforms were pressuring political factions to join the Democrat-led government," said Jatuporn Phromphan, a Thaksin ally and a lawmaker.

"It has been their plan all along. They usurped power through the court ruling last week and now they are lobbying lawmakers to join the Democrats. It is undemocratic," he said in a telephone interview.

Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkumnerd denied the allegation, saying the army was not involved in politics.

The military has mounted 18 successful coups in the past, the latest in 2006 against Thaksin.

Chris Baker, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said the army and the business community was key to the Democrat Party's rise.

"The business community has been saying very clearly that they would like to have a government headed by the Democrats," he said. "The army wants this crisis over. They want to stop having people racing around on the streets. They also don't want Thaksin back."

Still, there are concerns that Thaksin supporters may take to the streets, triggering another round of social unrest.

The airport siege left more than 300,000 foreign travelers stranded and dealt a crippling blow to the economy and the crucial tourism industry.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire, is still supported by many in the impoverished countryside because of his populist policies while in power from 2001 to 2006.

But his autocratic leanings and alleged corruption drew the loathing of the Bangkok elite, the military and people associated with the monarchy.

The dislike for Thaksin crystallized in the formation of the People's Alliance for Democracy, an activist group which carried out the anti-Thaksin campaign including the airport seizures.

The alliance backs the Democrat Party and Abhisit, even though critics say the British-born politician is out of touch with ordinary people, particularly the rural majority, and lacks charisma.