Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra faced a new threat to his rule yesterday as prosecutors considered filing vote fraud charges against his party that could lead to its dissolution.
The Election Commission late on Thursday ruled that Thaksin's party violated two laws in the campaigning for elections held on April 2 that have since been invalidated.
A panel of prosecutors was set to meet later in the day to decide whether to bring the case against Thaksin's party, which has run the country for the last five years, to the Constitutional Court.
If found guilty, the court could disband the party and bar Thaksin from forming a new one for five years -- a move analysts said could plunge Thailand's young democracy back into turmoil.
"It would send Thai politics further into a tailspin," political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said.
Thaksin, 56, earlier this year survived months of mass street protests demanding his resignation over claims that the billionaire politician used his office to enrich his business empire.
The charges accuse Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais love Thais) party of illegally financing fringe groups to contest the April 2 polls in a bid to make the elections look more legitimate after the boycott.
Thai Rak Thai legal adviser Kudeb Saikrachang said the party was already preparing to defend itself before the court.
"I am confident that Thai Rak Thai hasn't done anything illegal," he said.
Kudeb said the party believed the Election Commission's investigation was flawed because Thaksin was never called for questioning.
"We haven't received fair treatment from the Election Commission, which ruled that our party breached the law without calling our party leader to testify," he said.
The courts have already cast doubt on the commission's credibility, urging last month the commission members to resign because of the ongoing controversy surrounding the elections.
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