Abhisit oozes confidence that his coalition will not now come apart

Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the front runner for the post of prime minister, yesterday expressed confidence in the promised support from smaller political parties and MPs who defected from the disbanded People Power Party.

He said his Democrat Party had reached an agreement with those politicians and expected no changes ahead of Monday's House vote to elect a new prime minister.

"We are waiting for the vote on Monday," he said.

Abhisit, who is the Democrat Party leader, described it as "normal" for Snoh Thienthong, leader of the smaller coalition party Pracharaj, to continue with his efforts to woo defecting partners and MPs back to the old coalition.

Four smaller parties from the previous coalition and MPs from the Friends of Newin faction, who are loyal to banned politician Newin Chidchob, have promised to support the Democrats' bid to form a new coalition government and to vote for Abhisit as the next prime minister.

Abhisit yesterday met representatives from the Liberal International, a world federation of liberal and progressive democratic political parties, at Democrat Party headquarters. They attended a conference titled "Safeguarding Democracy: the Case of Thailand and its Regional/Global Impacts".

Hans van Baalen, deputy president of Liberal International, who is a parliamentarian from the Netherlands, voiced support for the Democrat Party on behalf of the organisation.

"We trust the Democrat Party to lead a clean new government of Thailand. We believe that such a new government will inspire all democratic forces in Thailand and more widely in Asia for true democratic change and liberal policies," van Baalen said.

"Democracy should never be taken for granted. It should be always nourished and supported. Liberal International is here to express its clear support to the Democratic Party and to the Thai people," he said.

In his opening address at the conference, Abhisit said: "If we become the government, we want to reach out to everyone and be a government for everyone. In our government, the policies will be made for the benefit of everyone. Every citizen will be assured of being justly treated. That's our understanding of true democracy."

Meanwhile, Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban said he saw no signs of any abrupt change that would affect the Democrats' bid to form a new government although Snoh appeared to be "unusually active" in trying to form an alternative national-unity government.

However, Suthep admitted to difficulties in persuading non-MP economic experts to join a new Cabinet, which he blamed on the volatile political situation.

"We may need some outsiders to work in the Cabinet, particularly in the field of the economy, but it is not easy to persuade people due to the ongoing political uncertainties. That's a big worry for us," he said.