"Thaksin has no intention of prolonging his term with the caretaker government because he has faced so many problems as leader," Pimuk said.

A government should have

been formed within 120 days of the House dissolution on February 25, he said.

But the Constitution Court's cancellation of the April 2 vote meant the caretaker government had to stay in office until new elections were held.

There was no justification for People's Alliance for Democracy's (PAD) claim that Thaksin was trying to cling to his caretaker duties rather than face the electorate, he said.

He urged the PAD to abide by the law during this Friday's march on Government House.

Thaksin had the right to speak out about a "charismatic figure" allegedly overstepping the Constitution and to correspond with US President George W Bush to explain his political problems, Pimuk said.

"The PAD and other opponents can ask Thaksin to reveal who the charismatic figure is but he is entitled to decide whether to reply," the spokesman said.

With regard to the allegation that the ruling party was planning to instigate a coup to seize dictatorial powers, he said his party never condoned violence.

Former Thai Rak Thai

MP Theerachai Saenkaew said the PAD acted inappropriately when it scheduled a rally to coin-cide with the ruling party's anniversary.

"The PAD wants to drive Thaksin out of office and I want to know who will replace him when all opinion polls say the people want Thaksin as prime minister," he said.