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Thai parties plan coalition

Allies of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday they had gathered enough parliamentary seats to form a coalition government after three smaller groupings agreed to join their political party.

The spokesman for the People's Power Party (PPP) said the three minor parties would announce their readiness to join the coalition at a news conference later yesterday.

"We have managed to form a coalition with more than half the seats in the parliament," the PPP's Kuthep Saikrajang said.

Thaksin's allies in the PPP came out on top in the country's first election since he was ousted by a military coup in September 2006, winning 233 seats in the parliament's 480-seat lower house. The anti-Thaksin Democrat Party won only 165 seats.

Both parties have been battling to form a coalition since the Dec. 23 elections.

Kuthep said the Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana with nine seats, Matchima Thipataya with seven and Pracharaj with five would link up with the PPP, giving the coalition a total of 251 seats.

Three of the PPP winners were disqualified by the Election Commission on Sunday and others could also face the same fate for election violations, but Kuthep said the coalition now had enough seats even if others were disqualified. It also appeared the Chart Thai Party, which won 37 seats, might join the PPP-led group.

Chart Thai Party head, Banharn Silpa-archa, said he "foresees no problem" in joining the coalition but would only make his party's position official tomorrow.

Kuthep said that if the coalition is successfully formed, the prime minister would "definitely" be PPP party leader Samak Sundaravej, a veteran rightist politician who has served in several Cabinets and as Bangkok's mayor.

The election pitted Samak against Abhisit Vejjajiva, the 43-year-old, British-educated leader of the Democrat Party.

But probably the key figure in the contest was Thaksin, who has been living in exile since his ouster by the military, which accused him of corruption and abuse of power.

Thaksin remains highly popular with the rural masses and the PPP campaign focused heavily on bringing him back to Thailand. Thaksin, who faces corruption charges, said recently he would be considering his options about a homecoming.

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