Thai PM hints at tactical, temporary withdrawal

Buriram (Thailand), Mar 15: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, battling a growing campaign to oust him, gave his first indication today that he might consider stepping aside temporarily to defuse the crisis.

Thaksin said there was merit in an idea floated by a group of businessmen to have him name one of his deputies as caretaker prime minister while political reforms demanded by the opposition were thrashed out, but stopped well short of accepting it.

''It is a good suggestion,'' Thaksin told reporters during a campaign stop in the northeast for a snap election he called for April 2. The three main opposition parties are boycotting the poll, saying it cannot be fair with him in charge.

''I consider all ideas which people raise,'' Thaksin said.

''I will disclose my decision only when the time is right and the decision will be based on the benefit of the country, not influenced by the demands of those losers,'' he said.

Thai newspapers quoted unnamed sources in the Thai Chamber of Commerce today as saying Thaksin should step aside until political reforms were in place. The opposition says he controls institutions meant to be independent.

With thousands of protesters massed outside Thaksin's office in central Bangkok and vowing to stay until he quits, the prime minister has offered to set up a neutral body to reform the constitution and hold another election within 15 months.

The opposition turned that down flat, saying no panel he appointed could be neutral.

Thaksin, accused of corruption and abuse of power by an extra-parliamentary coalition trying to oust him, said his staff had been in contact with all parties making suggestions to end political turmoil he said was hurting the economy.

''Of course, it has an impact on the economy,'' Thaksin said after 100,000 protesters marched to his office yesterday morning following an all-night rally demanding that he quit. He has declared frequently he will not bow to ''mob rule''. The crowd, camping out on streets around Government House, swells and ebbs, with only around 2,000 still there today morning after an evening rally of 40,000.

The anti-Thaksin campaign, which began in September, has worried financial markets concerned that economic reforms and plans to spend billion on revamping infrastructure to help reverse an economic slowdown will be delayed.

Fears of violence have been rife since the campaign caught fire in late January following his family's tax-free 1.9 billion dollars sale of the business empire he founded to a Singapore state investment firm.

Thaksin said yesterday that he would declare a state of emergency if the demonstrations got out of hand, an act that could bring troops onto the streets of a country with a long and relatively recent history of coups.

Military chiefs, however, said they saw no reason for an emergency decree at the moment.

The anti-Thaksin campaign has been peaceful so far, but there is fear that violence would erupt if thousands of government supporters travelling to Bangkok come near the Thaksin foes.

About 6,000 farmers with hundreds of trucks and tractors were heading down from the north and were expected to arrive on the outskirts of Bangkok later today.

Police said they had persuaded the Thaksin supporters to stay away from Government House to avoid a potential confrontation.

REUTERS