SAMAK IS ON THE WAY BACK

BY D.ARUL RAJOO

BANGKOK, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Two days after being disqualified, Samak Sundaravej is set to regain his prime minister's post as lawmakers from his People Power Party (PPP) have given him strong backing, apparently with support from ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.


The move is expected to prolong the confrontation between the PPP-led
coalition government and thousands of anti-government protesters who have been
occupying the Prime Minister's office, Government House, since Aug 26.

PPP deputy spokesman Suthin Klangsaeng said the majority of the more than
200 PPP members of parliament (MP) who attended a meeting this morning agreed
to nominate Samak when Parliament meets Friday.

He said the members felt that Samak did not commit any criminal offence
and merely misunderstood the provision of the consititution when he appeared in
television cooking programmes while still serving as premier.

"He is fighter of democracy and we felt he is the right choice," he told
reporters.

Samak was not present during the meeting.


A PPP MP said Thaksin, who is in exile in Britain, spoke to the MPs
over the phone and told them that Samak was the best choice to be the prime
minister.

"Thaksin said only Samak can manage the current situation," he said.
The MP said several PPP members spoke against nominating Samak again
as they felt the current confrontation would not end if he was
reinstalled.

"But the majority agreed to endorse Samak," he said, adding that
some wanted Thaksin's brother-in-law and acting prime minister Somchai
Wonsawat to be appointed.

On Tuesday, the nine-bench Constitution Court reached a unanimous decision
to disqualify Samak after they found him guilty of violating Article 267 of the
2007 Constitution by hosting the "Tasting and Grumbling" and "All Set at 6am"
cooking programmes while still in office.

But the conviction does not stop him from being nominated again.

However, some PPP members and leaders of the five coalition partners openly
had said that the government would fall into deeper trouble if Samak was elected
again as he faces a 24-month jail sentence for a defamation case.

Samak has appealed against a Criminal Court decision which found him guilty
of defaming former deputy Bangkok governor Samart Ratchapolsitte.

The People's Alliance for Democracy which started street protest on May 25
have demanded that Samak resign over claims that he is a proxy of
Thaksin.

After Thaksin was ousted by the military in the Sept 19, 2006 coup and his
Thai Rak Thai party was dissolved by the court a year later, he asked Samak, a
former Bangkok governor, to lead the PPP formed by TRT members and eventually
became the prime minister after the Dec 23, 2007 election.

Samak is set to be endorsed by the parliament as PPP has the majority,
while Chart Thai has 34 seats, Puea Pandin 24, Matchima Thipataya 11, Ruam Jai
Chart Pattana 9 and Pracharaj 5.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva offered himself to lead a national
government comprising all political parties to overcome the conflict but it's
unlikely to get support as they have only 164 seats and other parties are not
keen to join them.