|
Bangkok: Thailand's parliament on Friday postponed a vote for a new prime minister, expected to reinstate sacked leader Samak Sundaravej, heading off a collision with protesters hell-bent on blocking his return to office.
House speaker Chai Chidchob pushed back the special House of Representatives session to Wednesday after many MPs failed to turn up, suggesting 24 hours of back-room wheeling and dealing in Samak's six-party coalition had failed to reach a conclusion.
One big faction of 70 MPs within the People Power Party (PPP) disagreed with putting Samak forward, and one member even suggested acting Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat should dissolve parliament and call a snap election.
"When there seems to be no way out and parliament can't find one, a possible solution is to return power to the people to decide at the ballots," Jatuporn Prompan told reporters.
The postponement simply puts on hold the fundamental conflict between the rural and urban poor who supported Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, and Bangkok's middle and upper classes who despise him.
|
