Thaksin jettisons Thai coalition partner

Elected members and workers of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Ruk Thai Party parade to celebrate their victory and praise people's participation in the general elections in Bangkok yesterday. Thaksin confirmed he will sever a coalition partnership with the Chart Thai party, paving the way for a one-party government after he won weekend polls by a landslide. PHOTO: AFP

Election results are not final, but exit polls from a group of Thai television stations Sunday handed Thaksin an unprecedented victory, showing his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party winning 399 of 500 parliamentary seats.

Early returns with 61 percent of ballots counted Monday showed TRT winning 362 seats, the main opposition Democrat Party 92 and Chart Thai 30.

Thaksin said he and Chart Thai party boss Banharn Silpa-Archa, himself a former premier in the 1990s, reached an amicable agreement to part ways.

"I have talked on the telephone with Banharn, who reiterated that Chart Thai wanted to be in the opposition as the government won enough seats, but he will support me during the vote for prime minister," Thaksin told reporters.

Thaksin said Chart Thai, which joined TRT in coalition when it took power in February 2001 but resisted merging with it, would remain close to the government despite its exclusion.

After voting closed Sunday the prime minister said he had earned enough seats to form a one-party government but wanted to talk with Banharn first before declaring his intent to govern a second term alone.

Thaksin's rivals fear that his tighter grasp on power will boost what they label his authoritarian tendencies, particularly his strong-arm attitude towards a 13-month-old Islamic insurgency in the deep south that last year left over 500 dead.