A constitution court security guard carries a box with documents from the Attorney-General’s Office yesterday for the election-fraud case against five political parties.

"The monarchy is above politics," government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said.

"When conflicts among social groups arise, they should give way to find solutions by themselves for the good of the country. It is totally inappropriate to exploit the monarchy to gain an upper hand over opponents."

On Wednesday, Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), called on the people to decide which side they stood on - for the monarchy or for caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sondhi had claimed that Thaksin was challenging the monarchy by alleging last week that a "charismatic figure beyond the Constitution" was attempting to oust him from power.

Surapong said PAD had failed earlier in seeking a royally-sponsored premier after His Majesty the King called the idea undemocratic. Its leaders should have apologised and asked for royal forgiveness, but they had done nothing.

Sondhi's latest invoking of the monarchy was an attempt to drive a new wedge in society, Surapong said. All parties should know that several attempts to involve the monarchy in political conflicts in the past had ended in national crises, he said.

"We don't want to see history repeat itself," he said.

Surapong said Thaksin did not mean to say anything about the monarchy in his remark last week to senior government officials, so he had no need to clarify himself.

"Anyone attempting to involve the monarchy with the remark should be the one to be blamed," he added.

Thai Rak Thai's legal team insisted that the mysterious "charismatic figure" was actually the PAD, Democrat Party and other anti-government groups.

"We all know that they have been trying to topple the government for a long time," legal adviser Surachai Baochanya said.

Meanwhile, Surapong Towijakchaikul, leader of the Network of People's Power for Democracy, urged the police to check if legal expert Meechai Ruchuphan had insulted His Majesty following his article in which he interpreted Thaksin's "charismatic figure" remark. He said Meechai should be more careful with his words.

Meechai yesterday dismissed Surapong's claim that he had worked for the Thai Rak Thai government. He said he had worked on the government's legal affairs for many years, even before Thaksin assumed power five years ago.

"I work for the Office of the Council of State, which has advised every government since 1933," he said in an article on his website, Meechaithailand.com. "So nobody can claim that a councillor works for a particular government."