High-profile leaders were implicated in a scheme to fund small parties to serve as also-rans in election re-runs so that Thai Rak Thai candidates did not have to win as much as 20 per cent of the total ballots cast to qualify for House membership.

This practice, branded a sinister plot to destabilise democratic development and national security, could lead to the party's dissolution if found guilty by the Constitution Court.

The finding of the probe conducted by a subcommittee set up by the Election Commission was a severe blow to the Thai Rak Thai Party in general and its leader Thaksin Shinawatra in particular, whose image and credibility in the eyes of the public has been shattered.

The finding was another shocking revelation that lust for power and vested interests can drive politicians to any lengths, including breaking the law with complete disregard for the legal system.

Thaksin and other party hotshots must have found it difficult to refute the damning report, not to mention the extent of their embarrassment. That's why they tried to stay away from away from public view. Thaksin himself was tight-lipped when reporters pressed him for comment.

After emerging from his political hibernation, Thaksin tried to stay in the limelight with chummy golf sessions and shopping with his wife to check his popularity rating, testing public reaction if he should decide to resume active political adventure.

Whatever little confidence he regained was lost after the new explosive scandal broke. The general public perception is that there is a lot of smoke, so there must be a big fire somewhere. For those already familiar with the party's notorious track record, they see that Thai Rak Thai has been caught again with its hand in the cookie jar.

With Thaksin and the top party hierarchy lying low it became the duty of lower-rung underlings to come out fuming, pointing fingers that the report was the product of dirty politics and a conspiracy by their adversaries.

That was funny. People believed that the Thai Rak Thai excelled at this kind of game. The fact that they have had to face unending predicaments and scandals is solely due to arrogance of power and contempt for the rule of law.

They refuse to accept that it's payback time for all the misdeeds committed in the past five years, such as massive corruption, cronyism, abuse of power and other mischief-making, all of which eventually led to the pro-democracy movement to drive Thaksin from power.

The Thai Rak Thai has to squeeze out of a tight spot, possibly with a helping hand from the Election Commission, which itself has suffered disgrace and public denunciation for its questionable conduct and scandals in the performance of its duty.

Thaksin and his confidants must come up with a means to overcome the latest threat to their survival in politics. There exists a big risk of losing if they hope to contest the investigation report and allegations in court, now that their stars aren't shining brightly as in the past.

The power structure of the Thaksin regime is showing worrisome cracks. Whether it will crumble soon enough depends on court verdicts in the next several weeks involving Thaksin, the Election Commission and their allies.

If they have to continue to struggle amid an increasingly hostile atmosphere, with more scandals and setbacks, Thaksin should realise that it's time for him to step down. Even then, there is no safe exit yet from troublesome legal entanglements resulting from his past business deals and what could be regarded as corruption by policy.

Among the limited options is a plan for party members to encourage him to fight another round of election in the face of increasing disadvantage. At least they still control part of the legal machinery, such as the police force, and hold influence over other independent agencies.

But this time around, Thaksin and Thai Rak Thai are up against the judicial power vested jointly at times in the Constitution Court, the Administrative Court and the Supreme Court, against which the extent of their influence is inadequate.

Given the recent court verdicts and judgements, Thaksin and his crowd should feel that there is indeed not much room to be optimistic about winning.

Opinion polls show that more people think that Thaksin should leave politics for good, now that they are quite accustomed to his absence. What's more, Thaksin has proven he is not an indispensable leader.

Consequently, continuing defeats in messy legal battles could lead to bankruptcy in reputation, a total loss of power - and probably of personal freedom of movement as well.

 Sopon Onkgara