They had heard rumours that the Council for National Security (CNS) wanted to see both major parties dissolved.

He said the most likely scenario was that both parties would be dissolved and their executives banned from taking up top positions or founding new parties for a period of five years.

It is still uncertain what penalties the party executives may face if the Democrats and TRT are dissolved - whether they will simply be banned from political posts or from all political activity for five years. (See box below)

The Democrat source said he learnt that party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was considering taking a break from politics if the Tribunal decided to dissolve the party.

The source, who asked not to be named, said that even if the Tribunal did not ban the party's executives from political activity, Abhisit would be reluctant to run in the next general election or accept any political post.

The source said Abhisit was not backing down but rather wanted to take a stand against injustice, because the party had done nothing wrong. Moreover, he wanted to show responsibility if the party was dissolved while under his watch, the source said.

Some of the party's other executives apparently agree with Abhisit and also plan to take a break from politics if the party is dissolved, the source said.

Abhisit was also reluctant to accept prominent political positions offered by others if he was no longer the Democrat leader.

The Democrat leadership would not leave the party to form new parties, as some of Thai Rak Thai's former executives have done. At the same time, they would not be nominees for others, the source said.

However, he could not say who would be better than Abhisit as a new party leader.

Party chief adviser and former leader Chuan Leekpai has said many times that he would not accept the post again. But if he did accept the post, he might allow Democrats close to him to bring Sanan Kachornprasart - now the Mahachon Party leader - back to the party, and that was not so desirable, the source said.

The Democrats face great uncertainty, he said. He believed Sanan still had good connections with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Some Democrats believe the CNS initially wanted to see both parties dissolved with all executives banned from politics for five years. But they had reportedly changed the plan so both parties would be dissolved and their executives allowed to stay in politics, the source said.

However, the CNS would not be brave enough to dissolve only one party - Thai Rak Thai. Therefore, the most likely ruling would be that both major parties would be dissolved, although this could hurt the country more, he said. Foreigners would see the military junta ruining Thai democracy, he said.

The best but least likely scenario, in his view, was that no party be dissolved. The country would not be thrown into further chaos and the CNS could not be blamed, as electoral fraud was not one of the four reasons behind the coup.

If the Democrats were dissolved, he said, the country would lose as Thaksin still had money and such a decision would not prevent new political movements. Nobody could be as helpful as the Democrats in examining Thaksin and his successors and associates, the source said.

"Dissolving the party would severely hurt us [as a political group] whether party executives are banned from future political activity or not. We would be weakened."