Sawat said the criticism showed members of the public were not confident in his neutrality or that he would carry out his duties honestly. "To make everyone feel at ease, I quit. My children are happy that I did, too,'' he said.

He denied leaving because he felt slighted over what was viewed by some as a demotion following last weekend's shake-up of the committee, and insisted he had not had any conflicts with fellow panellist Auditor-General Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka.

"The media just blew the issues out of proportion," he said.

Sawat denied attempting to limit the authority of the panel, which was established by the then Council for Democratic Reform (CDR)'s 23rd announcement, to probe and possibly freeze the assets of allegedly corrupt politicians and their families.

The panel must have evidence before it incriminates anyone, he said. "Several new members of the AEC have expressed opinions along the same lines as mine, [such as] Nam Yimyaem and Kaewsan Atibhodi,'' he said.

Reports of conflicts emerged after Sawat insisted the committee would only investigate projects approved by the ousted cabinet, as authorised in the CDR's 23rd announcement. Jaruvan said the committee should be allowed to investigate the sale of Shin Corp shares as well as seize assets.

Sawat asked for information relating to all cases completed by the Office of the Auditor-General, but Jaruvan refused the request.

On Saturday, the CDR went into damage-control mode after initially failing to give the AEC a clear mandate. It removed six of eight AEC members, sparing only Sawat and Jaruvan. The new 12-member committee, which replaced the first AEC established on Sept 24, was given the power to freeze assets.

The new members include Kaewsan, Nam, Klanarong Chantik, Udom Fuang-foong and Sak Korsaengreung.

But the CDR failed to rename Sawat - a former president of the Supreme Court - as chairman, stating that members should pick their own chairman. The move was viewed by some as a demotion by the ruling council.