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Published on November 30, 2007

Prachai said he would not comment on the row any more as he believed there may have been a misunderstanding between their factions. Somsak had said he would solve all problems concerning his faction's members, Prachai said.

On Wednesday, Prachai threatened to shut down the party. He claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy involving Somsak's close aide Thanaporn Sriyakoon and Election Commission officials to extort him to pay Bt60 million in exchange for updating its records to reflect leadership changes.

Thanaporn said he was considering suing Prachai for defamation.

After a talk with Prachai in the afternoon, however, Somsak went to meet Thanaporn at Nong Chok police station along with other key faction members. After a two-hour meeting, Thanaporn decided not to take legal action against Prachai.

Somsak said Prachai was misled by incorrect information from two party members. He said he would provide the facts to Prachai within a few days to clarify the allegations.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has endorsed Prachai as leader of Matchima Thipataya, EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said.

He was responding to an allegation by Prachai that EC officials had conspired with former party executives to delay his approval as party leader in exchange for a bribe of Bt60 million.

Apichart said there were only a few technical problems concerning records to reflect the party's leadership change. He believed the problems would be solved by the December 11 deadline.

He dismissed the extortion charge, saying it was a problem for Matchima Thipataya to deal with and had nothing to do with the Election Commission.

The Nation