Pojaman back in the country

Khunying Pojaman Damapong, the ex-wife of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, returned to Thailand last night following a months-long overseas stay.

Her Thai Airways Flight 607 from Hong Kong touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 10.30pm. Thaksin's spokesman Pongthep Thepkanjana said Pojaman returned home alone.

Immigration procedures for Pojaman and Pinthongta were processed on the plane. They later left the airport in a van.

Pol Lt-General Chatchawal Suksomjit, the Immigration Police chief, said there was no arrest warrant for Pojaman, whose ex-husband was recently handed a two-year jail term for abuse of power while in office.

Thaksin was found to have violated the anti-corruption law, which bars public officeholders and their spouses from entering into a contract with the state.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that Pojaman was not guilty in the Rachadaphisek land case, in which she got a sweet deal to buy a prime state-owned plot in Bangkok.

Earlier, both Pojaman and Thaksin faced arrest warrants after jumping bail in the case.

Pojaman is currently appealing a conviction in another case, involving tax evasion.

Arisman Pongruangrong, a member of the Pheu Thai Party - set up recently to regroup MPs from the disbanded People Power Party (PPP) - said Pojaman wanted to come back to make legal arrangements concerning her assets following her divorce from Thaksin.

However, other sources said her return coincided with the next meeting of Pheu Thai's members, due tomorrow, during which the party's leader will be chosen.

The leader of Pheu Thai, which will likely have the most MPs, will be the front-running candidate for prime minister.

Yesterday, efforts to form the new government remained stalled as rival factions from the disbanded PPP failed to agree with the smaller coalition parties on the next prime minister.

Snoh Thienthong, leader of the coalition Pracharaj Party, said the five smaller coalition partners remained emphatic in their joint stance that - in order to help prevent a political crisis from recurring - a representative from their parties must be the next PM.

He said if the next prime minister were from either the Democrat or Pheu Thai parties, there would be renewed confrontation between the pro-PPP red-shirted people and the anti-PPP yellow-clad protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy.

"The five smaller parties from the original coalition agree that we won't support any candidate from Pheu Thai or the Democrats," Snoh said.

However, a faction of 37 former PPP MPs loyal to banned politician Newin Chidchob has yet to move to Pheu Thai.

The larger group of MPs from the PPP who have moved to Pheu Thai insist they prefer a PM candidate from the old PPP.

MP Sakda Kongphet said yesterday that about 180 MPs from the PPP had moved to Pheu Thai to form the largest group of MPs in the House.

"The next PM must come from Pheu Thai or we won't be able to explain to voters why we allowed a smaller party's representative to become PM when we have the largest number of MPs," he said.

Pheu Thai spokesman Sakda Noppasit said caretaker Prime Minister Chaovarat Chanwee-rakul was likely to dissolve the House if agreement could not be reached about the next PM.

Boonjong Wongtrairat, an MP from Newin's faction, said it was unlikely that MPs from his group would defect to the Democrat Party, as speculated.

Meanwhile, Democrat chief adviser Chuan Leekpai yesterday saw a slim chance of his party forming a new coalition government with the support of defectors from the previous coalition.

He said that unlike in 1997, when then-PM Chavalit Yongchaiyudh resigned after a financial crisis, the parties from the previous coalition had not agreed to switch camp.