Thai Rak Thai Group leader Chaturon Chaisang calls on the government and the Council for National Security to show they do not intend the next election to be a one-horse race but a fair vote for all parties.

The former head of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party believes it will be prohibited from reregistering under its old name or contesting the general election scheduled for December.

Chaturon Chaisang said rumours were flying that the former ruling party was completely finished, adding that most recent rumours involving the party had tended to be true, including of its total disappearance.

"We suspect there will be attempts to make these rumours come true, like the others about us," he said, citing the nullification of the April 2006 election and the September coup.

The party was ordered to be dissolved by a Constitution Tribunal ruling last Wednesday that found it guilty of committing electoral fraud by paying smaller parties to run in that election.

The ruling also barred 111 party executives from the electoral process for five years. They have since asked the government and the Council for National Security (CNS) to overturn the ban by repealing some articles of the interim constitution.

"The government and the CNS must show sincerity that they do not intend to have a one-horse race but a fair election in which all parties are allowed to participate,'' Chaturon said.

The Election Commission expects to take six months winding up the affairs of Thai Rak Thai. Chaturon said that timetable effectively meant it would not be allowed to reregister until the end of November.

"If there is an attempt to hold an election earlier than December, Thai Rak Thai [as a new entity] will not be able to run in it,'' he said.

He revealed Thai Rak Thai members were told ahead of Wednesday's ruling their electoral-process rights would not be withdrawn if they resigned from the party beforehand.

"We didn't believe this as we did not think the junta orders [affecting dissolved parties] would be applied retroactively,'' he said.

Chaturon said he had heard rumours the next government would be formed by parties previously in opposition and some former Thai Rak Thai members might defect to join them.