Kon BambooSchoot

Ousted Thai prime minister loses his party's backing An anti-government demonstrator pays her respects at a portrait of revered Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Monarchists and Thailand's middle class have united in protest against the rising electoral power of the rural poor.

Thailand's governing party sidestepped a possible flashpoint Friday, withdrawing its proposal to renominate Samak Sundaravej as prime minister three days after he was forced by a court to resign.

Thirapol Noprampa, a former official in the prime minister's office, said Samak had withdrawn his name after his party turned against him. He was also removed as leader of the People Power Party.

"He said he did his best to protect democracy," Thirapol said. "From now on, it's up to the party to decide what to do next."

Samak was ordered to step down Tuesday when the Constitutional Court found that he had engaged in conflict of interest by being paid for appearing on a televised cooking show.

That appeared to offer a face-saving way for Samak to depart, without being seen to bow to the protesters who have camped outside the prime minister's office for more than two weeks, demanding his removal.

But his party immediately said it would vote him back into the job, drawing a furious response from protesters. On Friday, ranks of police officers with riot shields surrounded Parliament, where hundreds of protesters had gathered to hear the news.

The change of mind came after a long day of hard bargaining, which was boycotted by a 70-member faction of its membership, said a party spokesman, Kuthep Saikrajang. The other five coalition partners said they would not support the renomination of Samak, he said.

Kuthep said three other party members were under consideration for the job and that Parliament would vote next Wednesday for the new prime minister.

Samak's departure apparently puts an end to a rough seven-month tenure during which the 73-year-old politician became the target of opposition against his party from several directions.

He was accused of corruption and of being a surrogate for Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted as prime minister in a coup in 2006 but is still the dominant force in the party from his exile in London.

Street protests against Samak began in May and escalated on Aug. 26 with the blockade of his office.

The confrontation has become a national crisis, complicating the work of government, putting the nation on edge, hitting hard at financial markets and frightening away the tourists who are crucial to the economy.

Though the protests have been mostly peaceful, the possibility of violence remains in the air, along with the possibility that the military will stage a coup, which it did two years ago this month. Those scenarios seemed to recede a bit with the removal of Samak, the party's most contentious figure.

The party's decision Friday also leaves open the possibility of some softening of the confrontation between the government, its parliamentary adversaries and the protesters, who appeared to gain confidence as the government failed to remove them.

But there is no sign at the moment that the protesters will back away from their demands, which go beyond the removal of Samak to include other personnel and policy changes.

Samak had declared a state of emergency in Bangkok after a violent clash on Sept.
2 during which one person was killed. But the military refused to enforce it, and the protests continued.