(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-21 21:15

Bangkok -- Samak Sundaravej, leader of the People Power Party (PPP) which won a relative majority seats of Thai parliament during the December 23 general election last year, smiled without reply on Monday while asked by local media about the upcoming premier post.

The smile, was understood by local press that, the political veteran is very likely to take over the premiership from the interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont on this Friday, during a parliament meeting.

In fact, as soon as the 72-year-old former Bangkok Governor became chairman of the PPP last June, he has expressed before several mass rallies that he was wishing to be the new prime minister. His famous saying then is "If not for the premiership, why I am here for campaign?"

As his PPP won the election by 233 of the 480 parliament seats in December, Samak seemed getting quiet. He closed himself at home, attended party activities with a low-profile attitude, and showed carefulness before media.

Samak's move was reportedly because many undecided issues were still troubling the PPP, such as the suspected electoral frauds which the Election Commission were still investigating, the lawsuits which demanding court to dissolve the PPP, and also the ambiguous mind of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister and the "real spirit" of the PPP.

However, the Supreme Court cleared the initial legal barriers facing Samak and his PPP last week, eliminating the danger of party dissolution. Thaksin, who is now in London, also expressed his preference to have Samak to be the new prime minister.

The high court said last Friday it had no authority to rule on the allegations that the PPP and Samak were nominees of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

As a result, the PPP and five small parties finalized the composition of the new government on Saturday, with a total of 315 seats. And on Monday afternoon, the parliament officially opens.

For Samak, one of his initial challenges, will be winning broad- based public support for his choice of the Cabinet members, especially those responsible for the country's economic affairs. This means that those appointed to the finance, commerce, agriculture, industry, transport, energy and related portfolios need to be highly qualified, with track records showing competency or Samak will not be able to bolster public confidence in the new government.

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