Thailand was pushed deeper into political crisis yesterday when the main opposition parties said they would boycott a snap election called by embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The sudden announcement followed a day of intense consultations during which Thaksin and his rivals had appeared to be nearing a compromise on future constitutional reforms.
"Because of Thaksin's distortion of the issue ... the three [opposition] parties decided not to meet with Thaksin and will not stand any candidates in the election," said Abhisit Vejjajiva, 41, leader of the opposition Democrat party, following a meeting with the opposition Chart Thai and Mahachon parties.
The parties had given Thaksin, 56, until the end of yesterday to commit in writing to constitutional reforms or face an unprecedented boycott of the April 2 polls that could throw the democratic process into disarray amid continued demands for Thaksin's ousting.
"I've done my best," Thaksin said when told of the boycott.
But diplomats hope that with more than 48 hours until the parties have to officially declare their candidates on March 2, the boycott could merely be part of ongoing negotiations.
Opposition parliamentarians were asking among other things for the abolition of a rule requiring that election candidates be members of a political party for at least 90 days before polls are held.
They were also seeking a reduction in the number of house members needed to censure the prime minister, from the current 200 out of 500.
Thaksin promised late in the day to make political reforms that could diminish his power and called for the establishment of a "neutral" committee to oversee changes to the Constitution.
But he refused to enter into a pact with the opposition that committed him to constitutional amendments.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters from a Buddhist sect dubbed the "Dharma Army" kept up their campaign for Thaksin's resignation yesterday, the morning after the largest anti-government rally in 14 years.
As workers completed the clean-up after Sunday evening's protest, which police said peaked at 50,000, around 1,500 supporters of lead demonstrator Chamlong Srimuang led a prayer session in front of Bangkok's golden-spired Grand Palace.
Chamlong, an ascetic 70-year-old general who led a successful but bloody "people power" uprising against a military government in 1992, hoped Bangkokians would flock to the Sanam Luang parade ground later in the day to maintain the pressure on Thaksin.
"We will be here until the job gets done," Chamlong told reporters in written answers to questions, saying he had lost his voice.
"The only way to get us out of Sanam Luang is to see Thaksin resign," he wrote.
Fresh from his morning prayers, he said he expected yesterday evening's rally to be larger than the previous day's, with members of his outlawed Santi Asoke Buddhist sect forming the backbone of the protest.
"Our unit will seize this area to keep the rally going around the clock," the former artillery soldier who earned his spurs fighting communists in Laos and Vietnam during the Vietnam War, said in a written answer to reporters.
He then grabbed a microphone and exhorted his followers in strident tones not to sneak off for a refreshing shower or much-needed sleep.
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