JaiGuruDev Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he will step down from his position, 14 months after securing the most decisive election victory in the kingdom's democratic history. Thaksin, 56, speaking in a live television broadcast at a press conference in Bangkok tonight, said he will stay on as interim prime minister until a new leader is chosen. He met with the country's King Bhumibol Adulyadej this afternoon. ``I'm convinced that what I've done as prime minister was the best I could do,'' Thaksin said. Quoting words King Bhumibol Adulyadej has said in the past, he said: ``If we keep competing with each other at the end the loser is the country.'' His resignation, which opposition parties and protest groups had been demanding for months, comes the day after he declared his Thai Rak Thai party won snap polls held over the weekend with 60 percent of the votes. He called the elections to secure his leadership mandate amid mounting criticism after his family made a tax-free $1.9 billion selling its stake in telecommunications group Shin Corp. on Jan. 23. He thanked the 16 million who voted for him in snap polls last weekend and apologized to them. He said it was time for all to show unity. Thaksin said the People's Alliance for Democracy, which has organized regular protests against Thaksin in the capital, Bangkok, since late January, said in a letter delivered to him this afternoon they would end their demonstrations if he quit. Elected prime minister in January 2001, Thaksin was the only leader to have completed a four-year term since the abolition of the kingdom's absolute monarchy in 1932. He won a second term in February last year when his party captured a record 375 seats out of 500 in the lower house of parliament, delivering the first absolute majority in the country's history. The premier said last night that if he stepped down, he would be replaced by another member of his party, naming his deputy Bhokin Bhalakula, Speaker of the House in the recently dissolved parliament, and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak as two of four potential leaders. He did not name any successor tonight. -- Editor: Frost http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=akIKvQewzyZI&refer=asia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookie Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Huzzah... now what about paying _taxes_ on the $1.9 billion..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 ...you think too mutt :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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