Thailand prime minister vows to go to work through blockade amid no confidence motion

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej faced a no-confidence motion in parliament Monday as thousands of anti-government protesters ringed his office in the capital.

The motion has been brought by the opposition Democrat Party in the wake of weeks of street protests calling for the government’s resignation.

Demonstrators, led by activists of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, occupied the area around Government House, the seat of Thailand’s government, on Friday after breaking through a police cordon.

In a nationwide address on government television, Samak said he would resign if the vote _ expected after a three-day debate _ went against him.

Samak’s People’s Power Party, whose members include many allies of military coup-ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, heads a six-party government coalition that controls about two-thirds of the 480 seats in the lower house of Parliament.

Samak’s partners would have to desert him for any non-confidence motion in the lower house to succeed. The Senate does not take part in the voting.

The demonstrators, who began street protests more than three weeks ago, claim that Samak and his party are mere proxies of Thaksin, who was dismissed in a 2006 military takeover.

“I will not bow to your pressure. I will pull out only if I am defeated by a vote in Parliament,” Samak told the protesters.

But alliance spokesman Suriyasai Katasila said Samak’s resignation alone would not satisfy their demands.

“The People’s Alliance for Democracy believes that the government’s decision to allow a no-confidence motion in Parliament is a political game to lessen tension,” Suriyasai said.

The alliance led mass demonstrations before the 2006 coup demanding Thaksin step down for alleged corruption and abuse of power. They now accuse Samak’s government of interfering with corruption charges against Thaksin and trying to change the constitution for its own self-interest.

Rumors have swept Bangkok since the protests began that the country’s powerful military would stage another coup, something the top brass has repeatedly denied.

Samak’s People’s Power Party won general elections last December.

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