Democrats see chance of power

Their key members believe that they could form a new government led by Democrats' leader Abhisit Vejjajiva if Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej resigns in the wake of the controversy over Preah Vihear Temple and the Supreme Court's verdict that PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat committed electoral fraud.

The Constitution Court ruled on Tuesday that the joint communique signed by Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in support of the application for Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple to be listed as a World Heritage site was unconstitutional.

As the joint communique was approved by the Samak Cabinet, the court's ruling poses the threat that all Cabinet members including Samak will be impeached as they were involved in an unconstitutional move.

At the bottom of their hearts, however, the Democrats know they should not hurt the five coalition parties - Chart Thai, Puea Pandin, Ruam Jai Thai Chat Pattana, Matchima Thipataya and Pracharaj. Otherwise, when their dream that Samak resigns comes true, the parties won't switch sides from PPP to the Democrats.

In other words, they need to ensure that only PPP gets hurt by the ongoing mess.

Thus, it's no surprise that the Democrats are about to gather the support of 120 of 480 MPs to impeach only Noppadon and maybe some ministers involved in the matter, despite being against the what-should-be-done principle that the whole Cabinet should be held responsible for violating the law. "Make friends, not war," the Democrats might say in this situation, which could lead them to power for the first time in more than eight years.

An incident at Government House yesterday afternoon should also boost the Democrats' morale and optimism that they could rule the country soon.

Rain and strong wind knocked over a big Rajapreuk tree as Samak arrived at his office after chairing an urgent PPP meeting on how to cope with the crisis. It caused Government House reporters to talk about a bad omen for the crisis-plagued government as the Rajapreuk is regarded the tree of the nation.

The Democrats believed that they were close to grasping power after the December 2007 election. Although they lost to PPP, key party members believed Abhisit would become prime minister as the five parties would have no way of backing PPP under the shadow of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

When Samak was named the new premier, the Democrats woke from their dream. Here again they have another chance to assume power, but there is no guarantee of the result.

weerayut@nationgroup.com