BANGKOK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The parties in Thailand's ruling coalition huddled behind closed doors on Wednesday to agree a replacement prime minister for Samak Sundaravej, who was removed by the courts for hosting a TV cooking show while in office.
Samak's People Power Party (PPP), the biggest in the six-member coalition, vowed to back him again as prime minister, but smaller partners have not made their stance clear ahead of Friday's parliamentary vote.
Chart Thai, the second largest party in the coalition, was meeting with the PPP amid newspaper speculation that its leader, Banharn Silpa-archa, would replace Samak.
Banharn, a veteran provincial powerbroker whose disastrous premiership in the 1990s contributed to the baht collapse that triggered a wider Asian financial crisis, denied the rumours.
"It is impossible for the PPP to vote for me to be the prime minister. They have many choices, apart from Samak," he told reporters before meeting finance minister and top PPP official Surapong Suebwonglee. Banharn gave no hint of how his party would vote on Friday.
A nationwide poll conducted by Assumption University found that 56 percent of respondents wanted the Samak government to go. A similar percentage wanted a national unity administration or a snap election.
The 73-year-old Samak has yet to comment on Tuesday's court ruling that he had violated the constitution by hosting cooking shows on commercial television while in office.
The Constitutional Court said it was a conflict of interest that disqualified him as prime minister.
Analysts said the verdict should have provided at least a stop-gap solution to the crisis, but the likelihood the stalemate will drag on for months is likely to take a further toll on Thailand's financial markets.
The country's main stock index .SETI has fallen nearly 25 percent since a street campaign against the Samak government began in late May.
Protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who accuse Samak of being a puppet of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as premier by the army in a 2006 coup, said they would not move from Government House, where they have barricaded themselves for two weeks.
Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat -- who is Thaksin's brother-in-law -- was named acting prime minister, an appointment hardly likely to calm PAD ardour.
It was also not certain that Samak's entire party would back him Friday's secret ballot. Some PPP factions were meeting on Wednesday to discuss leadership options.
"What the spokesman said about re-nominating Mr. Samak was not a party resolution," Paijit Srivorakarn, head of the PPP's northeast faction, told a Bangkok radio station.
(Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson)
Samak's People Power Party (PPP), the biggest in the six-member coalition, vowed to back him again as prime minister, but smaller partners have not made their stance clear ahead of Friday's parliamentary vote.
Chart Thai, the second largest party in the coalition, was meeting with the PPP amid newspaper speculation that its leader, Banharn Silpa-archa, would replace Samak.
Banharn, a veteran provincial powerbroker whose disastrous premiership in the 1990s contributed to the baht collapse that triggered a wider Asian financial crisis, denied the rumours.
"It is impossible for the PPP to vote for me to be the prime minister. They have many choices, apart from Samak," he told reporters before meeting finance minister and top PPP official Surapong Suebwonglee. Banharn gave no hint of how his party would vote on Friday.
A nationwide poll conducted by Assumption University found that 56 percent of respondents wanted the Samak government to go. A similar percentage wanted a national unity administration or a snap election.
The 73-year-old Samak has yet to comment on Tuesday's court ruling that he had violated the constitution by hosting cooking shows on commercial television while in office.
The Constitutional Court said it was a conflict of interest that disqualified him as prime minister.
Analysts said the verdict should have provided at least a stop-gap solution to the crisis, but the likelihood the stalemate will drag on for months is likely to take a further toll on Thailand's financial markets.
The country's main stock index .SETI has fallen nearly 25 percent since a street campaign against the Samak government began in late May.
Protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who accuse Samak of being a puppet of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as premier by the army in a 2006 coup, said they would not move from Government House, where they have barricaded themselves for two weeks.
Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat -- who is Thaksin's brother-in-law -- was named acting prime minister, an appointment hardly likely to calm PAD ardour.
It was also not certain that Samak's entire party would back him Friday's secret ballot. Some PPP factions were meeting on Wednesday to discuss leadership options.
"What the spokesman said about re-nominating Mr. Samak was not a party resolution," Paijit Srivorakarn, head of the PPP's northeast faction, told a Bangkok radio station.
(Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson)
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