Thai prosecutors to meet on case against PM's party

BANGKOK, June 23 (Reuters) Thai prosecutors will today decide whether to ask the Constitutional Court to disband Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra's party for breaking election rules in April's inconclusive poll.

They meet a day after the Election Commission found Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party guilty of bankrolling smaller parties in the general election which was later annulled by the courts.

''The Party Registrar has ruled that Thai Rak Thai has broken Article 66 of the Political Parties Act,'' Poramet Inchumnum, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said, referring to the head of the Election Commission.

Article 66 says a political party could face dissolution if if it violated election rules that threatened national security, peace and order, or the country's constitutional monarchy.

However, any dissolution would have to be ordered by the Constitutional Court.

The case stems from a report last month by an Election Commission panel which found two Thai Rak Thai leaders gave two fringe parties money to run against the ruling party.

The April poll included many constituencies where Thai Rak Thai candidates ran uncontested due to a boycott by the three main opposition parties. They failed to win their seats because they did not get a required 20 per cent of the eligible vote.

With seats left unfilled, parliament could not meet to form a new government and the courts later ruled the election unlawful after a royal intervention to end the political deadlock.

Thaksin called the April election to counter a Bangkok-based street campaign in which foes accused him of corruption and abuse of power, charges he denies.

A re-run of the election has been set for October 15.

Reuters SY GC1056