Thai ruling party to nominate caretaker PM as new premier

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-15 16:01

BANGKOK -- Executives of Thailand's core ruling party People Power Party (PPP) have decided to nominate its deputy leader, Caretaker Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat as its candidate for the premier post, which was vacated by earlier disqualified Samak Sundaravej, said a PPP spokesman on Monday.

The PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrajang said around noon that after an party executives' meeting in the morning, the PPP leadership has resoluted to nominate Somchai for the premiership. The executives' decision will be delivered to PPP members of parliament in a meeting Monday afternoon for endorsement. Once passed by the party MPs, it would be communicated to the other five coalition parties in the caretaker government, said Kuthep.

Kuthep said Somchai has told the party executives that he is ready to become prime minister and to solve the country's problems.

The six coalition parties, led by PPP, is expected to hold a news conference on Tuesday to officially announce the coalition's nomination, before it is presented to the Parliament for a voting scheduled on Wednesday.

The anti-government group People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Monday insisted that it will not accept Somchai as the new premier and vowed to carry on their protests at the Government House, which PAD protesters have occupied since August 26.

The PAD, who had demanded the Samak cabinet to step down by street protests, said that Somchai, like Samak, is also a nominee of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the PAD's consistent enemy.

Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.

Former premier Samak, also PPP leader, was disqualified by a Constitutional Court verdict on September 9, which found him in breach of the charter by hosting TV cooking shows while in office. The cabinet was required to step down, too, but stayed on as a caretaker one pending a new premier to form another government.

Somchai, as first deputy prime minister, was then appointed as acting premier to head the caretaker government.

The House of Representatives on last Friday postponed a scheduled vote on a new prime minister until this Wednesday after the PPP split over whether to re-nominate Samak as candidate, while other five coalition parties also voiced opposition to the choice.

Samak later declined the offer, and speculation also held that he would soon resign as PPP leader.

Somchai had been among the three top tipped candidates of PPP for the premiership -- the other two being caretaker deputy prime minister and finance minister Surapong Suebwonglee, and caretaker justice minister Sompong Amornwiwat.