bye bye pm?

[Guest namjai]

Sep 13, 10:57 AM (ET)

 

By SUTIN WANNABOVORN

 

 

 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Embattled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will not seek another term after the upcoming general election, a senior member of his party said Wednesday.

 

The comment came from Chakaphan Yomchinda of the Thai Rak Thai Party, who interviewed Thaksin last week for a three-part television program.

 

"The prime minister did not speak clearly about his political future but as one of his subordinates I can read his signal clearly: He will not take the position of prime minister after the next election," Chakaphan said before the first part of the interview was aired on TV Channel 5 on Wednesday.

 

The opposition Democrat Party, which has been fighting for months to oust Thaksin, said it was skeptical and wasn't paying attention to his "political maneuvers."

 

"The Democrat Party doesn't care any more what Thaksin says, he is not someone who keeps his word," said Suthep Thueksuban, secretary general of the opposition party. "We are focusing on preparing our party for the next election."

 

Thaksin has been widely accused of corruption and abuse of power. Months of street protests forced him to temporarily step down from his position, after which he returned on a caretaker basis pending elections which will probably take place before the end of the year.

 

Chakaphan said Thaksin would talk about his political future in the taped interviews scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The Wednesday interview focused on the prime minister's family, hobbies and accomplishments.

 

In only a short passing reference, Thaksin said the "prime minister may change after the elections."

 

Thaksin, who is on a foreign tour, also spoke of an alleged attempt to assassinate him last month. Five members of the army have been arrested in connection with the alleged plot to explode a powerful bomb near his residence. Some critics accuse the government of cooking up the plot for its own political purposes.

 

"I lead my life normally, but it is uncomfortable since I have to follow rules about security. I have to think about my security and the dignity of the country," he said. "You can imagine what the reputation of the country would be like if its leader was assassinated."

 

Army Chief Gen. Sondhi Bunyaratglin, meanwhile, dismissed rumors about a possible coup by the military.

 

"Has the situation gone to that point? No. There is still a way to go by democratic means," he said. "We should stop talking about it. It is impossible."

 

Thailand has had no working legislature and only a caretaker government since Thaksin dissolved Parliament in February for early elections in April. He called the balloting three years ahead of schedule in a bid to defuse the mounting protests against him.

 

New elections have been scheduled for Oct. 15 but there are widespread doubts they can be organized in time. New election commissioners were only put in place last week.

 

Thaksin's party won the April elections, but the three parliamentary opposition parties boycotted and millions of voters marked an abstention box on their ballots as a protest of the prime minister. The elections were voided later by the courts as undemocratic.