Thai court set to rule on validity of Apr 2

BANGKOK, May 7: Thailand's Constitutional Court is expected to nullify the inconclusive April 2 general election tomorrow, a move which might make the country's constitutional crisis more, rather than less, messy, newspapers said.

Quoting a source close to the court's deliberations, the English-language Nation paper said this weekend eight or nine of the 14 judges were likely to vote to scrap the poll, which left Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra unable to form a government.

The court decides on the basis of a simple majority.

However, it remains unclear what will happen in the event of the election being scrapped since such a decision would push Thailand even further into uncharted constitutional waters.

Another election looks certain at some stage, and the opposition Democrat party, which boycotted the April poll saying it was not fair, said it would participate in a re-run after a rare intervention by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The Nation, which has been consistently critical of Thaksin since he first came to power five years ago, predicted more turmoil and confusion, especially given Thaksin's pledge to stand aside after a surprisingly large protest vote.

''Not only will the country face a murky future in the short term, but the political front will become more eventful, with pro-democracy activists demanding that heads must roll for all the mischief-making,'' it said in an editorial.

Anti-Thaksin street campaigners have said they will start protests anew if the prime minister, who has still not officially given up his position, makes a comeback.

Last week, after the king told them to sort out the ''mess'', the court agreed to hear petitions from a group of law lecturers demanding the election to be scrapped.

Their plea centres on four issues -- the scheduling of the poll, whether ballot booths were positioned correctly, allegations of the government bankrolling smaller parties and the lack of a formal review of ballot results.

During the hearing, the Election Commission denied it had committed irregularities in holding the snap poll, which Thaksin called three years early to counter the Bangkok-based street protests against him.

After the poll, the former telecoms tycoon, who was unable to form a new government because the opposition boycott left empty seats in parliament, announced he was taking a ''political break'' and passed day-to-day work to his deputy.

Thaksin stepped back into the public eye on Friday, leading cabinet ministers at an audience with the king to mark Coronation Day, and hosting a gala dinner at Government House, the first time he has set foot in his old office for nearly a month.

Aides said the appearances did not point to him going back on his promise to stand aside from politics.

''This does not signal anything political. Thaksin has to lead the two events because he is still prime minister,'' Prommin Lertsuridej, secretary to the prime minister, told Reuters.

Yesterday, Thaksin dodged reporters questions at a Bangkok golf course, saying he was ''old and retired''.

''Let the younger chaps run things,'' he was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post, before teeing off with key members of his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party.

Reuters