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Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party, has the premiership within his grasp. Or could it be a comeback for Chuan Leekpai, the chief adviser of this grand old party? This follows a dramatic makeover of the coalition government. Over the weekend, Suthep Thaugsuban, the secretary-general of the Democrat Party, succeeded in bringing together the coalition partners who were part of the now-defunct People Power Party-led government. With the disbanding of the People Power, Chart Thai and Matchima Thipatai parties, the balance of power within Parliament has shifted sharply.

Now the alliance is changing. With support from the defunct Chart Thai (15 MPs), defunct Matchima Thipatai (10 MPs), Puea Pandin (22 MPs) and the Newin Chidchob faction (37 MPs), the Democrats (166 MPs) are scrambling to form a new coalition government, which will complete the remaining three-year term. They will have the support of altogether 250 MPs, compared with 228 for the Pheu Thai Party, the reincarnation of the People Power, Pracharaj and other parties.

Politics remains fluid. It is difficult to predict what's going to happen next, given the legal wrangling and the tough negotiations going on. Questions have been raised about whether party-list MPs can switch to other parties now that their parties have been dissolved. Some say the Constitution permits all MPs to seek a new party within 60 days after their parties are made defunct. But others argue that this clause only pertains to constituency MPs, who are directly voted into Parliament by the electorate. Party-list MPs cannot move on to other parties because they represent the parties of their original affiliation. Party-list MPs should lose their parliamentary status along with the disbanding of their parties.

Parliament will have to start the process to nominate and vote on a new prime minister within 30 days after the exit of Somchai Wongsawat. But the Constitution requires MPs whose parties have been disbanded to seek new parties within 60 days. This situation is rather tricky. The MPs will now have huge bargaining power in picking the new prime minister and the new government without being answerable to their original parties. Their swing votes will be crucial.

Newin Chidchob's 37 MPs have already signalled that they would break away from the defunct People Power to support a Democrat-led coalition government. They would not register with the Pheu Thai Party but might join the Ruamjai Thai Chat Pattana Party instead.

Newin, a former follower of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has declared that the country is in crisis and it is no longer feasible to continue to support the original alignment of the coalition government. All eyes are now focusing on Newin to see whether his faction will live by its words or whether it is trying to boost the value of its MPs.

Chai Chidchob, the House speaker, will hold enormous clout during this time. He will seek royal endorsement to convene the extraordinary parliamentary session to pick the new prime minister.

But before that can happen, can Chaowarat Charnweerakul, the acting prime minister, dissolve the House and call a snap election if the defunct People Power views that it is losing the game to the Democrat? Again, a legal question has been raised over whether an acting prime minister can dissolve the House or not. Constitutional experts will have a field day interpreting the law to keep the country moving forward. Somchai had an opportunity to dissolve the House to prevent the crisis from spiralling out of control, but he blew that opportunity and was ejected from power unceremoniously.

Indeed, it's time that politicians make some rational judgement to keep the country on track. Thailand has lost two prime ministers in quick succession, first Samak Sundaravej and now Somchai Wongsawat. The two were MPs of the defunct People Power Party. If Pheu Thai tried to form the next coalition government with one of its candidates as prime minister, the political crisis would not die down easily. Within the pool of Pheu Thai candidates there are hardly any qualified to serve as prime minister during this very difficult period when Thailand is facing both political and economic challenges.

The private sector, represented by the Federation of Thai Industries, Thai Chamber of Commerce and Thai Bankers' Association, has called for the new coalition government to be led by the Democrat as the core party. The country can't afford another round of crisis. The old coalition make-up is troublesome because it is still linked to Thaksin, whose ghost has refused to be laid to rest.

Pojaman, the former wife of Thaksin, returned to Bangkok last week after four months of living in exile. Her arrival has led to wide speculation, coming when the defunct People Power is losing its political momentum. Some say Pojaman is no longer interested in politics, others say she will be trying to plot a strategy for Pheu Thai to form the next government.

The military has shown more maturity this time by resisting the temptation to stage a coup to end the political crisis. Instead, it allows the political process to work its way through. The world is watching. It's time that all MPs show their responsibility to save Thailand from sinking further into the quagmire.