Thai ruling party pulls Samak out of race
Thailand’s ruling party says it has decided not to renominate ousted prime minister Samak Sundaravej for the post.
The People’s Power Party spokesman, Kuthep Kuthep Saikrajang, says a day-long meeting of the party agreed that Mr Samak will have to stand down because of objections from the other five parties in the ruling coalition.
He said today that the party has short-listed three party members, one of whom will be its nominee for the prime minister’s post. Parliament will hold a vote next Wednesday to elect the prime minister.
Mr Samak was booted out on Tuesday by a Constitutional Court ruling for violating a conflict-of-interest law by hosting two television cooking shows while in office.
