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Key Thai opposition parties heed king's advice to end crisis+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)BANGKOK, April 26_(Kyodo) _ Thailand's key opposition parties that boycotted the general election earlier this month announced Wednesday they will heed the call of King Bhumibol Aduyadej to resolve the current political crisis through the judicial system. Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party, told a press conference that the party would enter the election process if the country's top courts rule that there should be a new general election. "I believe that the best way to resolve the crisis is to heed the advise of His Majesty the King, and that all sides should review the positions we have taken," he said. Chart Thai, the other key opposition party, also declared Wednesday that it will follow the king's advice. It said it will wait for solutions to be determined by the Constitutional Court, Supreme Administrative Court and Supreme Court. The heads of the three top courts will meet Friday to work on the impending constitutional crisis posed after Thailand held a snap general election on April 2. The election results are unlikely to determine all 500 seats of the House of Representatives, as required for the lower house to convene, because some constituencies had only one candidate who failed to obtain the required support of at least 20 percent of eligible voters. In two separate audiences he granted for judges from the Supreme Administrative Court and Supreme Court on Tuesday, the 78-year-old monarch criticized the last general election as "undemocratic" and urged the country's top judges to resolve the impending constitutional crisis. "It is impossible to have democratic elections with only one party, one candidate. It is undemocratic," the king told an audience of newly sworn-in judges of the Supreme Administrative Court at his seaside palace in Hua Hin. At the meeting, which was televised nationwide, the king also raised the possibility of nullifying the result of the inconclusive election. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dissolved the House of Representatives on Feb. 24 for the April 2 snap election that was boycotted by major opposition parties. By-elections were subsequently held to fill vacant seats in parliament, which cannot meet to elect a new prime minister until all the seats are filled. It is widely feared that Thailand will face a constitutional gridlock if a new lower house cannot not be convened within 30 days of the election. "Without the House of Representatives, there is no way to rule by democracy," the influential king said. Referring to calls for him to intervene by appointing a new premier, the king said such royal intervention would be unconstitutional and undemocratic. The king said he had never performed any duty beyond those outlined in the Constitution and would not do so. In another audience he had with newly sworn-in judges of the Supreme Court, the king said the judicial system was the only democratic pillar currently functioning in the nation and therefore should do its utmost to solve the current crisis. "If there will be no full House (of Representatives), it will not be democratic. Therefore, please consult with other courts about how we could revive democracy," the king said. He added that the country would be a mess if the lower house were to be opened with fewer than the full quorum of 500 parliamentarians required by the Constitution. The Election Commission of Thailand has so far named 382 parliamentarian elects out of the 400 constituency representatives, mostly from Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party. A third round of by-elections has been scheduled for next Saturday in at least 13 constituencies. But the poll watchdog has not been able to conclude the results for the 100 House seats that are filled by proportionate party representation. |