Former deputy House speaker Sophon Phetsawang, third right, chats with fellow MPs-elect from the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party before their meeting at Parliament yesterday, which was held behind closed doors.

A group of Thai Rak Thai Party MPs yesterday opted not to pursue their threat to campaign for im-peachment of Administrative Court judges if they rule to nullify the April 2 general election.

The U-turn came after press reports that the court was gathering information to see if the accusations made by the MPs could be considered contempt of the court.

Sixty-five Thai Rak Thai MPs met at a conference room in the Parliament building yesterday to find a way to break through the political impasse.

The group included many MPs from the Wang Nam Yom faction who had earlier threatened to gather signatures to impeach Admini-strative Court judges if they nullify the election.

They backtracked from their earlier stance, which many observers regard as an act of defiance to the judicial review of the April 2 election.

The Office of Administrative Court on Thursday compiled evidence to file a complaint of contempt of court against the group.

Former deputy House speaker Sophon Phetsawang, who chaired yesterday meeting, said after the meeting that his group would wait for the courts' decision on whether to nullify the election. "If the courts decide that the election is invalidated, the matter is ended,'' he said.

He said his group would not gather signature to file complaint against the judges.

He said the meeting yesterday had nothing to do with the Thai Rak Thai Party and his group does not need to report their stance to the party.

Thai Rak Thai MP Paisal Chantarapakdi (Phetchabun) said the group came up with three resolutions; they will uphold His Majesty the King's address, they will comply with the courts rulings, they will push for the opening of the House to uphold democracy.

Thai Rak Thai MP Buasorn Prachamon who had earlier announced in a press conference that he will gather signatures to take legal action against judges, angrily reacted to the question from reporters that he would insist to remove judges as he had earlier said. "[What happened] that day and today is different. You look at the date,'' he said.

Sophon said he organised the informal talks independently and denied it involved his Thai Rak Thai Party.

"I do everything honestly and take no instructions from [party leaders] Somsak Thepsuthin and Suriya Jungrungreangkit," said Sophon, a former deputy House speaker.

He insisted the group would try to map out a political solution based on three guidelines: the royal advice from April 25; the laws of the Constitution and the rulings made by the country's three top courts.

"I am a provincial lawyer and I always respect the courts," he said, denying speculation that he might be charged with contempt of court.

Before yesterday's meeting, which was held at Parliament House, Sophon and many elected MPs from the ruling party spoke out against the powers given to the courts.

They questioned whether the Central Administrative Court should be empowered to rule on the Election Commission's alleged mismanagement of the April 2 poll and threatened to litigate against the court if the election was invalidated.

The court has asked to review the taped interviews before deciding whether to charge the group with contempt.

Sophon replied that he was prepared to explain to the court how he had been misquoted in the news reports and had actually said if the results were cancelled, he and his colleague Paijit Sriworakhan, would seek a legal interpretation from the Constitution Court.

"I did not threaten to sue the Central Administrative Court," he said, adding he was ready to abide by the court's ruling.

During the meeting Sophon and other participants criticised any attempts to persuade the courts to cancel the election outcome.

Meeting participants included key members from the party's Wang Nam Yom and Pho Mod Dam factions.

Somsak's wife Anongwan Thepsuthin and Suriya's close aide Anucha Nakhasai were present at the meeting, which ended without releasing a statement.