The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Bangkok

Thailand slid deeper into deadlock Friday when ruling party lawmakers failed to show up to re-elect Samak Sundaravej as premier, leaving him embarrassingly isolated as he tries to return to power. Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a new prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak of office for accepting payment for hosting TV cooking shows.

The delay seemed likely to embolden protesters who have besieged the prime minister's office for more than two weeks in a campaign to force Samak and his cabinet from office. People Power Party (PPP) deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat, who is currently the acting prime minister, played down a forced postponement of the vote until Wednesday but declined to say whether the party would stick with Samak.

"I cannot say whether there will be a change in the candidate's name. It depends on the consultations among the political parties," he told reporters. While the Constitutional Court obliged the fiery-tongued 73-year-old Samak to step down over the cooking shows it did not bar him from politics, leaving no legal barrier to him being re-elected as premier.

His PPP agreed Thursday to do just that, but the decision sparked a revolt among its coalition partners and even among some of the party's own MPs.

It meant that when parliament met to vote Friday, no coalition MPs attended the session, forcing a delay due to the lack of a quorum.

Somsak Kiatsuranont, the culture minister who led a boycott by a faction of PPP, said the party needed to find a new candidate.

"We don't want Samak, because our country currently has too many problems and conflicts. Samak is a veteran politician, and he has made significant contributions to the party, but he is not fit for this situation," Somsak told reporters.

The latest twist in Thailand's chaotic political saga has heightened the uncertainty that has clouded the kingdom since anti-government protesters stormed into the prime minister's official compound more than two weeks ago.

The protesters have occupied the grounds of the offices ever since, pressing their call for Samak and his government to step down, claiming that they are a proxy for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The protest group, which calls itself the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), had also spearheaded protests against Thaksin in 2006, leading to the military coup that toppled him.

Thaksin now lives in exile in Britain to evade corruption charges, which he says are politically motivated.

Despite his exile, Thaksin still casts a long shadow over Thai politics.

The PPP said Thaksin, who personally tapped Samak to lead his supporters in last December's elections, had been consulted about his re-nomination.

But even if the PPP-led coalition agrees on a new candidate, the protesters have vowed to keep up their campaign.

"The tide is turning against Samak as a second term prime minister. Putting him back in charge would just intesify this brinkmanship with the PAD," said political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak.