All parties yesterday vowed to follow His Majesty the King's advice to remain calm in the wake of Wednesday's verdict on electoral fraud that may result in the dissolution of the country's two major political parties, Thai Rak Thai and the Democrats.

Speculation is rife that members and supporters will turn violent if their parties are dissolved. Prime Minster Surayud Chulanont has cut short his China visit and will return home on Tuesday, a day earlier than scheduled.

The Democrats are mindful of His Majesty's concern about possible violence and turmoil and will not try to sway public sentiment, party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday.

"I am ready to heed the royal speech without making any interpretation of it, so as to not to aggravate the concerns of His Majesty the King," he said.

Suthep was speaking in reaction to the King's speech on Thursday and gave an assurance that his fellow Democrats would stay calm regardless of the verdict.

"I believe the nine Constitution Tribunal judges will dispense justice and that their verdict will not be swayed by political sentiment," he said.

He vowed to quit politics for good should his party be found guilty of fraud.

"If the party gets a favourable ruling, every Democrat is ready to put the past behind him or her and move on to prepare for the next general election," he added.

Suthep said his party's campaign bid would aim at garnering support for the premiership of party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Chaturon Chaisang, acting Thai Rak Thai Party leader, said his party would abide by His Majesty the King's words and do all it could to prevent chaos from engulfing the country. He said he had instructed party members not to make any trouble.

"Don't worry. I guarantee that we will not protest against the verdict or cause any trouble," he said.

Chaturon said his party was confident the Constitution Tribunal judges would consider the case by the rule of law and their verdict would be just. He said he and his members would accept the verdict and would continue their political activities through the parliamentary system.

He said he had telephoned former party leader Thaksin Shinawatra and told him about the party's defence in court and the party's direction for the future.

"Thaksin and I encouraged each other. He supports our direction. I will call him again before the verdict is read," he said.

However, since the King's expression of his concern, members of the two major parties believe their parties will not be dissolved.

A key Democrat said his party members thought that only individual executive party members, who were involved in the case, would be punished.

The Thai Rak Thai Party yesterday held a meeting about the King's speech. A source said members were confident that both parties would escape dissolution. They predicted three possible verdicts.

First, the Tribunal might rule that the case was not under its jurisdiction. Second, the two parties would be found not guilty. Third, they would be found guilty but only some executives would be punished.

Political anxiety has soared as the country braces itself for the landmark rulings. If found guilty, the two major parties face mandatory disbanding, and up to 168 party executives may be penalised by a five-year ban from holding office in other parties.

The guilty executives may also face additional punishment by being removed from the electoral process.

Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said everyone should carefully study the royal speech in order to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control.

"The King has reminded everyone to fully grasp the situation so they can prevent a crisis that would make everyone a loser and see the country suffer a political catastrophe," he said.

He said the country was at a critical juncture in which the verdict could trigger turmoil if people allowed emotion to cloud their judgement.

"This is why His Majesty has emphasised that the judges must ensure a just verdict and explain their legal opinions to the people," he said.

He added that he was confident turmoil could be avoided if everyone properly understood the verdict.

Sonthi Boonyaratglin, chief of the Council for National Security, dismissed the common public perception of the CNS as wanting both parties to be dissolved, saying it was ready to accept any verdict.

Asked if the survival of the Thai Rak Thai Party would disappoint the junta, Sonthi said: "We have passed that stage already, and everything is almost done."

Former Mahachon Party leader Anek Laothamatas said Thai Rak Thai supporters should stop trying to promote self-serving views of the upcoming verdict.

"The country should come before any party or individual," he said.

The future of the country is being charted collectively by every citizen and does not rest on the fate of a single party, he added.

He urged everyone to stay calm instead of speculating on political scenarios that might or might not happen.