Democrat Party chief adviser Chuan Leekpai gives an interview after appearing on a television programme, during which he questioned why his party’s request for an investigation into alleged election fraud committed by the Thai Rak Thai Party had been reje

"The public may find it strange that someone asking for justice ends up being accused as the offender,'' the former PM said.

Chuan was speaking during a television programme yesterday, the day after an Office of Attorney-General subcommittee agreed that the Democrats, along with the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party and three smaller parties, should be dissolved for alleged violations of the Political Parties Act.

The Attorney-General is now assessing the panel's conclusions before forwarding cases to the Constitution Court.

Chuan, who was PM from Sept 1992 to July '95 and November '97 to January 2001, said he had warned his party colleagues to be careful as an Election Commission official let it be known "the accuser would end up being jailed".

"We knew then that things would not conform to the rules but it is a frame-up because unexpected things can be done in a country tied to Thaksinomics."

The Democrat Party became a target, he said, because it filed a suit against the Election Commissioners. "The EC commissioners opposed us because we'd filed a suit against them. It wasn't unexpected that they resented it,'' he said.

Chuan said his party realised justice would be hard to find as independent agencies were being interfered with. "Our last hope is that the people in the agencies would react with rectitude."

Some people were bold enough to commit an offence because they believed they could control state agencies, he said.

But he was not worried about charges made against the party because it had always tried not to make errors.