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Thaksin ally nominated as Thai PM Thai faction rejects PM nominee
(about 8 hours later)
Thailand's governing People's Power Party has named Somchai Wongsawat as its candidate for prime minister to succeed Samak Sundaravej.Thailand's governing People's Power Party has named Somchai Wongsawat as its candidate for prime minister to succeed Samak Sundaravej.
Somchai Wongsawat has been acting prime minister since Mr Samak's dismissal by the courts last week. The softly spoken former judge is a brother-in-law of the controversial former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Somchai is a brother-in-law of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as prime minister in an army coup in 2006. But within hours of the announcement a powerful faction within the ruling party said it would not support him.
Mr Samak's own links to Mr Thaksin were highlighted by demonstrators who have mounted weeks of paralysing protests. Correspondents say the PPP has two days to reach consensus or risk renewed political instability.
So the selection of Mr Somchai - who is married to Mr Thaksin's favourite sister - is unlikely to placate them, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok. A state of emergency was lifted in Bangkok on Sunday, 12 days after it was imposed amid violent clashes between government supporters and opponents, which left one person dead.
His appointment as prime minister will have to be approved by parliament later this week. But anti-government protesters have vowed to continue their nearly three-week-old occupation of the main government complex until the PPP is forced out of power altogether.
Weekend negotiations Candidate rejected
It became clear on Friday that Mr Samak would be unable to muster the support - from either his own party, or the other parties in the ruling coalition - to launch a fresh bid for the prime minister's position. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the PPP's nomination for prime minister on Wednesday after it became clear that the former incumbent, Mr Samak, would be unable to muster enough support to make a fresh bid for the post. We are prepared to choose a candidate who will not aggravate problems already faced by the country Banchong WongtrairatSpokesman for rebel faction
Over the weekend executives from the PPP have been bargaining hard to ensure they have enough support from the party's coalition partners and its own MPs behind a single candidate for prime minister. Over the weekend executives from the PPP underwent long negotiations with the party's coalition partners to win their support for Mr Somchai and on Monday it appeared they had achieved consensus.
They now believe they have that support for Mr Somchai, a softly spoken former judge, our correspondent reports. Mr Somchai, 61, is married to Mr Thaksin's sister - but in other respects the former judge and career bureaucrat was thought to be viewed as an acceptable compromise candidate.
But one of the main charges levelled at Mr Samak by protesters was that he was acting as a proxy for Mr Thaksin, who is accused of abusing his power during his five years in office and of being hostile to the monarchy - both of which he has always denied. But Mr Somchai's candidacy was swiftly rejected by leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the protest group which triggered the current crisis.
Mr Thaksin is believed to have lobbied strongly for the party to select Mr Somchai. Like Mr Samak before him, they complain that Mr Somchai would be beholden to Mr Thaksin - now in exile but facing charges of corruption relating to his five years in office.
Division
And within hours of their announcement of Mr Somchai's selection, dozens of members of the PPP said they would not vote for him.
"We are prepared to choose a candidate who will not aggravate problems already faced by the country," said faction spokesman Banchong Wongtrairat, according to Reuters news agency.
The rebel lawmakers have reportedly rejoined PPP talks over the leadership but the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says the ruling party is now badly divided over the issue.
He says that the PPP must find a new consensus. If it cannot, it risks breaking up into competing factions, a result that might please the government's opponents but would do little to restore political stability.