Bangkok tense on judgement day for Thai parties

May 30, 2007, 3:59 GMT

Bangkok - Thailand's military was on full alert for protests Wednesday, the day of a landmark tribunal ruling on Thailand's two main political parties, but leaders of the parties downplayed the need for all the beefed-up security.

Thailand's Constitution Tribunal on Wednesday afternoon is to decide whether the Thai Rak Thai party of coup-ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and the kingdom's oldest political party, the Democrats, should be dissolved for allegedly committing electoral fraud in last year's general election.

The tribunal might dissolve both parties or just one of them. It might also dissolve neither but decide to bar the parties' executives from politics for the next five years.

Oddly, the political parties seemed less concerned about the ruling than the Thai military establishment, which mobilized 13,000 police and army troops to keep a lid on any disturbances.

'I slept well last night,' Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday before the ruling.

'Whatever the tribunal outcome, things will become clearer afterwards, and nothing can stop the country from moving forward,' Abhisit said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Thai Rak Thai, which means Thais Love Thais, reiterated his party's stance that it would accept the tribunal's verdict and would not stage protests against it.

But several anti-coup groups have threatened to stage rallies Wednesday and Thursday nights, depending on the outcome of the case.

General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the Army chief who led the coup against Thaksin on September 19, has beefed up security in the capital to preserve security after the landmark ruling.

'At this point, the plan to hold the rally stays, but it all depends on the situation,' said Jakrapob Penkair, an executive of the PTV Group, which plans an anti-coup rally Thursday in Bangkok.

'The point of consideration is how stable the political situation is after the ruling,' Jakrapob said.

Rumours were rife Tuesday night of a split developing within the Council of National Security, as the ruling junta styles itself.

Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in a rare commentary on the political situation, warned last week of political trouble after the Constitution Tribunal's ruling, no matter what the outcome.

If the tribunal dissolves Thailand's two leading political parties, the country's democratic system would receive a major blow. On the other hand, if the parties are not dissolved, the coup leaders might find themselves in danger of a political backlash from the Thai Rak Thai party, one political observer said.

The military, under Sonthi's command, ousted Thaksin and the Thai Rak Thai Party on charges of corruption, undermining democratic institutions and dividing the nation.

The junta has made it clear that it does not wish Thaksin to contest the next election, scheduled for December, and does not want one political party to monopolize Thailand's political scene the way Thai Rak Thai did under Thaksin's premiership from 2001 to 2006.