Thai PM hints at tactical temprory withdrawal

Buriram (Thailand), Mar 15: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra indicated today he might consider stepping aside temporarily to defuse a campaign to oust him but made clear it was only one of several possible options.

Thaksin said he saw merit in an idea floated by a group of businessmen to have him name one of his deputies as caretaker premier 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 and which the three main opposition parties are boycotting, saying it cannot be fair with him in charge.

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

Reuters