Abhisit said even in that eventuality Thaksin would remain firmly in control as puppet master pulling the strings from behind the scenes to help such people as Somkid Jatusripitak, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan and Suriya Jungrungreangkit.

Abhisit accused Thaksin of dishonesty and said the caretaker premier remained uncommitted to political reform despite his pledges to the contrary. The Democrat leader stressed the importance of thorough political reform, pointing to questionable rulings by the Election Commission on allegations of rampant vote buying.

"Some parts of Thaksin's speech [on Friday] raised questions of whether he was abusing the powers of the state to organise such a gathering [at Sanam Luang] during the run-up to the election,'' Abhisit said.

He said political reform had been stalled because of Thaksin, who had turned down several workable proposals by respectable academics and instead lashed out at the scholars.

Democrat Party spokesman Ong-art Klampaiboon agreed, saying it was Thaksin's choice whether to become a "a statesman" or "a tyrant". Ong-art said Thaksin should follow the example of Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda.

"When General Prem was prime minister, he agreed to resign even though only a small number of protesters were demanding that he step down. He made his decision even though the political parties still supported him," he explained. "Now hundreds of thousands of people are calling for Thaksin to step down, but Thaksin refuses to comply," Ong-art said. "Thaksin should choose whether he wants to be a statesman or a tyrant," he said.