'Thaksin will resist pressure from within'
Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may resist pressure from within his Thai Rak Thai Party urging him to take a break from politics and let caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak take the helm, a high-ranking party source said yesterday.
Although several factions in the party, such as Wang Nam Yen, Phya Naga and a group of central region MPs, have thrown their support behind Somkid, other MPs believe he does not have the leadership skills and cannot coordinate factions in the party and other political parties.Finally, the source said the party would call a meeting to decide who should be the next prime minister. The source said most party members would vote to have Thaksin return to the post. The MPs said that if Thaksin decided not to take another term, Thai Rak Thai deputy leader Sudarat Keyuraphan would be the most suitable choice because she has the leadership skills and can coordinate with other parties and within the party, the source said. Thaksin has called a meeting to discuss the possibility of him taking a break, the party-list ranking and the new Election Commission's role in the general election.
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