CHAMLONG SRIMUANG former Palang Dharma Party leader,calls on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign, during a press conference at the October 14 Memorial yesterday.He said the prime minister's resignation will end divisiveness among the people.

Opponents of Thaksin Shina-watra must be tempted to compare his rise to power to the tale of Dr Frankenstein. Chamlong Srimuang’s decision to boost the already massive alliance against his “Creature” with his formidable “Dharma Army” is one of the severest blows yet to be dealt to the embattled prime minister.

At a characteristically composed press conference, Chamlong unceremoniously disowned Thaksin and called on him to resign, citing the “unprecedented” social force bent on ousting him because of his “loss of legitimacy”. The arrival of the prime minister’s one-time political mentor to the fray was late, but it provides a major boost to an anti-government rally scheduled for Sunday at Sanam Luang.

Thaksin called a meeting with several Cabinet members yesterday evening, and while the gathering was described as something unusual, speculation grew over a major political change, be it a Cabinet overhaul, dissolution of the House or even the still unlikely scenario of the prime minister’s resignation. Whereas Chamlong’s political clout has waned over the years, his following in the Santi Asoke unorthodox Buddhist sect remains strong, and the burnt bridges with Thaksin will weigh heavily on the latter’s already wobbly public standing.

“I and members of the Dharma Army [as Santi Asoke members call themselves] will join the gathering at Sanam Luang next Sunday,” Chamlong said.

“We will gather with people coming from all parts of Thailand. If hundreds of thousands of people show up, I believe the prime minister will resign.”

Stopping short of saying “I started it so I have to end it,” Chamlong admitted his mistake in inviting a young, promising business tycoon into politics in the early 1990s, and downplayed concern that the arrival of the Dharma Army would raise the prospect of violence on Sunday or in subsequent weeks. The situation, he insisted, was different from May 1992, when he led a bloody street protest that eventually ousted the military-backed government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon.

Chamlong said that whereas Thaksin, unlike Suchinda, was elected and supported by 19 million voters, the prime minister could not use that to proclaim undisputed, ever-lasting legitimacy. “I was one of the 19 million people who voted for him, too,” said the former leader of the Palang Dharma Party. “Election votes are not something irrevocable. They are not a licence to do whatever you like. That’s not democracy. Votes come and go, depending on legitimacy. Democracy belongs to the people all the time, not only on election day.”

The normally politically inactive Dharma Army is said to comprise tens of thousands of Santi Asoke followers, who worship the unconventional monk Bodhirak as their spiritual leader and see Chamlong as the layman head of the sect. Rumours have it that Chamlong has been under pressure from certain Santi Asoke figures including Bodhirak to come out against Thaksin.

Chamlong told the press conference that it was the controversial Shin Corp sell-off to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings that cost Thaksin his political legitimacy. He noted it was the Shinawatras’ decision to sell national assets – from which they had made huge profits – to foreigners that had triggered unprecedented social outrage. “Thai people – in Bangkok and other provinces and including university lecturers and students – are up in arms like never before. They are speaking in unison – that the prime minister has lost legitimacy to rule the country,” Chamlong said.

Thaksin’s former mentor had been criticised for his initially muted reaction to the Temasek deal, which earned the Shinawatras Bt73 billion tax-free. But after suggesting that Thaksin donate Bt26 billion to charity, Chamlong upped his demand to unconditional resignation, and even implied a House dissolution was not enough.

“From what I have heard from the people, they want him to resign. If he doesn’t, divisiveness will worsen and will cause serious damage to the country,” Chamlong said. He reminded Thaksin of four key elements in the soldier’s oath – patriotism, dignity, discipline and courage – all of which “require” him to step down.

“A patriot won’t allow this kind of divisiveness to continue. And if you are a man with dignity, you have to listen to reason. If hundreds of thousands of people come out with good reasons, you have to listen to them. Discipline requires you to listen to those people, and you must have the courage to do what they want you to do,” he said.

Chamlong said another factor influencing his decision to come out was the recent attack on Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda by Thaksin’s “mouthpiece”, Samak Sundaravej. Chamlong served as Prem’s secretary-general when he was prime minister. Although Samak quit his controversial TV programme, Chamlong said he had been contacted by “a lot of my brothers in the armed forces who asked me if I wouldn’t do more than just write a caution letter to the prime minister.”

The trigger for Samak’s attack had been a speech by Prem in which, speaking generally, he said that national leaders needed to possess moral authority. According to Chamlong, the reaction from many top soldiers to Samak’s attack was “beyond my expectations, so much so that it was hard to listen to it on the phone”.

The last time Chamlong came out like this blood spilled on the streets and a government fell. But whereas he guaranteed that the military would stay away from the showdown, the decision of Thaksin’s mentor will make this week one of the most tense in Thai political history.

Pressure will also mount on former Chamlong proteges in the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party like deputy leader Sudarat Keyuraphan. Having escaped, probably temporarily, a Constitution Court impeachment process, Thaksin, isolated in the only comfort zone of his overwhelming command of the House of Representatives, is watching his crisis deepen with each passing day.

Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) welcomed Chamlong’s participation in the rally but noted that the spearhead of the 1992 uprising would have to accept his role as part of a committee instead of trying to lead the rally all alone.

“Chamlong has to be ready to accept that the shape of the rally will be decided through consultation in a committee. The PAD’s working principles are that we all take part in the thinking and doing and that this will be no one-man show,” Suriyasai said.

He said the PAD also emphasised peaceful rallies and that the political alliance would call a press conference to announce its stand on Chamlong’s participation.