Foreign minister rules out possible House dissolution

Bangkok, June 21 (TNA) – Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on Friday brushed aside a suggestion by former prime minister Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej dissolve the House and resign to end the ongoing political turmoil, saying the current government had done nothing.

Gen. Chavalit had a right to make the comment, he said, however, adding
that he disagreed with it because the government had only administered the
country for four months and stepped up efforts to solve the economic
hardships the public is facing from the oil and food price rises.

"The government has done nothing dishonest or corrupt. It retains a
majority of votes from the people and so has legitimacy to administer the
country.

"The ongoing political turmoil stemmed from a failure by some groups of
people to respect the democratic rule or accept the elected government,"
he said.

Regarding the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) move to lead
demonstrators to rally at Government House, he said he believed police and
officials concerned would be able to cope with the situation.

Earlier, Gen. Chavalit, who is also a former army chief, said the rally is
likely to escalate and end up with violence unless the government is
willing to express its clear stance and put the conflicts on the table, he
said.

Under the circumstances, the only way left to end the violence and
conflict is a military coup.

To avoid that, the government should not hesitate to seek a democratic way
to solve the problem, he said, adding that the prime minister might opt to
dissolve the House and resign to allow the opposition party to join other
coalition parties to form the new government. (TNA)