The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Bangkok

The parties in Thailand's ruling coalition met behind closed doors on Wednesday to agree a replacement prime minister for Samak Sundaravej, who was removed by the courts for hosting TV cooking shows while in office.

Samak's People Power Party (PPP), the biggest in the six-member coalition, backed off an earlier pledge to re-nominate him as prime minister ahead of Friday's parliamentary vote.

"What the party spokesman said yesterday was not the party's resolution. Our resolution is the next prime minister must come from the People Power Party," Finance Minister and PPP secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee told reporters.

Smaller partners have also not made their stance clear.

Chart Thai, the second largest party in the coalition, met with the PPP amid newspaper speculation that its leader, Banharn Silpa-archa, would replace Samak.

Banharn, a veteran provincial powerbroker whose disastrous premiership in the 1990s contributed to a baht collapse that triggered the wider Asian financial crisis, denied the rumors.

"It is impossible for the PPP to vote for me to be the prime minister. They have many choices, apart from Samak," he told reporters before meeting Surapong and other PPP leaders.

The 73-year-old Samak has yet to comment on Tuesday's court ruling that he had violated the constitution by hosting cooking shows on commercial television while in office. The conflict of interest verdict did not include a ban from politics.

Analysts said the verdict should have provided at least a stop-gap solution to the crisis, but the likelihood the stalemate will drag on for months is likely to take a further toll on Thailand's financial markets.