"The verdict could go either way. We survive or fall," he said in an interview with The Nation. "I respect the tribunal judges, no matter the outcome is."

Chaturon said it was certain that if the Thai Rak Thai were dissolved, it would cease to function. Nobody would launch any protest movement under its name, he said.

The party's executives are not spending their time discussing the future. "We only talk about how to carry out our commitments to the people and maintain our ideology when we have to abide by obligations [under the new rulers]," he said.

Thai Rak Thai is accused of hiring small parties to field candidates in the April 2 poll last year and of abetting small parties in amending their membership registrations in the Election Commission's database.

A guilty verdict would mean not only dissolution of Thai Rak Thai but also, under a new rule introduced by the military junta shortly after it ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra

last September, a ban on all 119 party executives at the time of the incident from taking any political post for five years. Chaturon is one of those who might be affected.

"We [Thai Rak Thai] are treated badly," Chaturon said.

Though Thai Rak Thai's main rival, the Democrat Party, and three smaller parties also face charges of election fraud and the prospect of dissolution, several military leaders and influential government figures have attacked only Thai Rak Thai by saying it would surely be dissolved.

"Who do they think they are?" Chaturon said, raising his voice. "They have no right to take Thai Rak Thai off the political field because we haven't done anything wrong. Only the tribunal will decide if Thai Rak Thai did any wrongdoing."

Some Thai Rak Thai executives have vowed to petition His Majesty the King if the party is dissolved. They claim the case was based on the 1997 Constitution and, since that charter was annulled following the September 19 coup, it should no longer be valid.

Chaturon insisted that he personally would not launch a petition, but said the party's other executives had the right to ask for justice.

"I have no exact plan of where or what I should be if I have to stay away from mainstream politics for five years," he said. However, he insisted he would carry on his work in the political field, no matter what his role would be.

Chaturon, 51, served as deputy prime minister, PM's Office minister and education minister during Thaksin's five and a half years in power. He became Thai Rak Thai's caretaker leader shortly after Thaksin resigned as party leader in early October last year while living in self-imposed exile in London. This led to the collapse of its 119-member executive board and a realignment of members. However, former executives still face a five-year ban from political posts if the party is dissolved.

Amid mounting tension between pro- and anti-Thaksin camps, Chaturon appealed to all sides to compromise to make a general election possible by the end of the year, which he believes will restore democratic rule. Otherwise, the situation could deteriorate to the extent that bloodshed becomes imminent, he said.

The current situation has raised concerns about the future of Thai democracy, he said.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont faces growing pressure from the junta and Thaksin's bitter enemy, the People's Alliance for Democracy, to resign due to his plunging popularity and failure to run the country. They will no longer stand by until Surayud steps down after the December election as planned.

Moreover, some military leaders are rumoured to be planning a new coup to topple the Council for National Security (CNS), as the junta calls itself, under Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.

"The fall of Surayud or a fresh coup will only be a bad sign for the country," Chaturon warned. If Surayud is sacked, his successor will not do any better under CNS control, he said.

If the CNS is toppled, "what could the people expect from a new military junta?" he said. Another military intervention would only worsen the crisis. It would reflect a Thai political culture in which peaceful means had no room to breathe, he said.

To reduce tensions and close the door on possible violence, Chaturon asked the CNS and its constitution drafters to be open-minded about changes. These include the removal of some controversial clauses in the charter draft suspected of paving the way for extended military rule, he said.

Kornchanok Raksaseri,

Sucheera Pinijparakarn,

Weerayut Chokchaimadon

The Nation