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BANGKOK - Supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra protested on Thursday against the court-ordered dissolution of their party and the political banishment of its leaders which threaten more turmoil.
Some 2000 people rallied peacefully near Government House a day after the ruling, shouting slogans against the coup leaders who ousted Thaksin in a bloodless putsch last year.
"Democracy Back, Thaksin Come Back," read one banner held by a protester wearing a "CNS Get Out" headband, referring to the name the generals gave themselves, the Council for National Security.
"Although Thai Rak Thai has been banned, we still love Thaksin," Jatuporn Prompan, a rally organiser and former party spokesman, told the crowd from the stage.
"The Constitutional Tribunal has ruled that Thai Rak Thai has committed a crime that was hostile to democracy. But who will make that ruling on the CNS which toppled a democratically elected government?," Jatuporn said.
Earlier, Thaksin, who is living in London, issued a statement urging his supporters to accept the ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal, which found his party guilty of two charges of fraud in last year's inconclusive poll, later annulled by the courts.
He also pressed the generals to speed up elections promised for December. Analysts say the plan could be derailed by unrest.
"I would urge everyone to stay calm and don't make any moves," said the billionaire telecoms tycoon whose Thai Rak Thai (Thais Loves Thais) party was the first in Thai history to win an absolute parliamentary majority.
There has been no violence since the ruling, but police set up extra checkpoints across the city of 10 million people.
"Nothing has happened yet, but we are worried that a third party could cause trouble," the Bangkok police chief, Lieutenant-General Adisorn Nonsee, told reporters.
The rival Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest party but no match for Thaksin's machine in the vote-rich countryside, was found not guilty of breaking election laws, and should now be in pole position for the promised December election.
The rulings, greeted by the English-language Bangkok Post with a banner headline reading "BYE BYE THAI RAK THAI", would "reshape and realign" Thailand's electoral landscape, political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said.
"The military will come into an alliance with the surviving politicians and this alliance will be anchored with the Democrat Party," he said.
"The military has to protect itself, it has to watch its back, it has to have some cooperation from the politicians after the election because the military will be out of power."
But he said this new alliance could not ignore the millions of rural and urban poor who lionised Thaksin, in part for populist policies such as cheap health care and loans.
"If they are alienated, if the military and surviving politicians and the interim government neglect them, don't pay attention to their needs and grievances that Thai Rak Thai addressed, then there will be trouble ahead," he said.
The absence of any immediate unrest soothed investors who bid up Thai funds in overnight trade. Thaifund Inc rose 3.1 per cent in New York, while Thai Capital Fund climbed 1.9 per cent.
Thailand's main bourse was closed for a national holiday on Thursday, but it hit a 5-month high on Wednesday as the risk of immediate violence diminished.
But some analysts expected the market to slip when it resumes trading on Friday amid concern that there is still considerable potential for trouble.
A referendum on a new constitution is due in September. Critics call it undemocratic, shifting power from politicians to bureaucrats, and it could turn into a plebiscite on the coup and the banishment of Thai Rak Thai.
"I think anti-coup protests will intensify and should make it more difficult to pass the new constitution," said Sukhum Nualskul, a retired professor and political commentator.
Without its senior leadership, including the charismatic Thaksin, it may be hard for Thai Rak Thai to reform under a new name and get ready in time for the December polls.
"Whether the parties would be sufficiently organised for December polls is debatable," said Elizabeth Mills, Asia analyst for London-based Global Insight.
- REUTERS
