"Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva vows to uphold democratic principles but he has torn up the Constitution, as evidenced in his party's election boycott," Sita said.

He was reacting to Abhisit's statement on Thursday that Thaksin may be taking a break from leading the next government in order to pull the strings behind a puppet prime minister.

He said Abhisit had no justification to attack "Thaksinism", allegedly meaning Thaksin's flawed leadership, for usurping democratic rule because the Democrat leader himself had campaigned for unconstitutional means.

"Abhisit invoked Article 7 of the Constitution to petition for a royally-appointed prime minister, exploiting this charter provision to actually discard the basic law," he said.

Echoing Sita, party deputy spokesman Chatuporn Phromphan said the Democrats should reflect on themselves instead of trying to fault Thaksin.

The Democrats are the embodiment of three "isms" - Chuanism, Abhisitism and Suthepism, Chatuporn said, referring to Democrat chief adviser Chuan Leekpai, Abhisit and secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban.

Chuanism signified a lack of political ethics, as shown by the "cobra faction" scandal to form the second Chuan-led government in 1997, he said, referring to the induced defection of MPs to muster support.

Abhisitism is the next political step after Chuanism because Abhisit is striving to become the royally-appointed prime minister replacing Thaksin, he said.

Suthepism is the crux of Chuanism, meaning a willingness to serve vested interests such as the distribution of land reform plots to the father of Suthep's personal secretary, he said.

Chatuporn also attacked the People's Alliance for Democracy for continuing its street protests even though Thaksin had agreed not to lead the next government.

"I suspect PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul will spend the rest of his life going to court," he said, anticipating many legal battles relating to the protests.

Signalling that the party might enlarge its battlefront with the Democrats, city councillor Wisut Samrejwanit said he suspected Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin was trying to whitewash the alleged irregularities in procurement projects worth Bt20 billion.

Apirak will face a censure debate if he fails to explain the hasty pinpointing of blame for graft violations on C-8 and C-9 city officials, Wisut said.