December 26, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 15, 1428

HONG KONG, Dec 25: Deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday he wanted to return to Thailand in February, as he called for reconciliation with the military following weekend elections.

Thaksin, who was deposed by a military coup 15 months ago, also insisted he did not want to return to politics following the polls, which saw his allies in the People Power Party (PPP) emerge as the biggest winner in the new parliament.

“I will go back from February onwards,” Thaksin told reporters in Hong Kong, in his first reaction to the election result. He declined to give a precise date, but said he hoped it would happen by April at the latest.

“I want to go back when my life can be peaceful in Thailand, as a normal citizen,” said the billionaire former telecoms tycoon, who has been living in exile mainly in London since the military seized power.

Thaksin struck a conciliatory tone, calling for national reconciliation and thanking the military junta for allowing the elections to take place.

“I would like to congratulate them (voters) for bringing back democracy for Thailand,” he said. “This should bring reconciliation efforts by everybody.” “I urge every party concerned to forget the past and look forward to a bright and prosperous future for Thailand,” he added.

Thaksin, who was in contact with PPP leaders throughout the election, said repeatedly that he wanted to quit politics when he returned to Thailand.

The junta dissolved Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party and in May this year a military-appointed tribunal banned him and 110 other senior party members from politics for five years.

“I am quitting politics, I am not going back to politics. I will not take any political position except when they want any ideas,” said Thaskin, who is also the owner of Premier League football club Manchester City.

General Sonthi Boonratglin, who led the coup against Thaksin, insisted on Tuesday that he would press ahead with corruption cases against the former premier even if PPP does form the next government. The army-appointed Assets Examination Committee (AEC) has frozen about two billion dollars worth of Thaksin’s assets and filed criminal charges against him in court, but has yet to secure a conviction.

“There is no doubt that I will fight for the survival of the AEC since I founded it with my very own two hands,” he said.

Official returns from Sunday’s election gave the PPP 233 of the 480 seats in parliament, just short of the absolute majority needed to govern alone.

Yongyut Tiyapairat, the party’s deputy leader, said on Tuesday that a PPP-led coalition would hold at least 280 of the 480 seats in parliament, but declined to give further details.

CRITIC GETS THREE YEARS: The leader of last year’s protests against former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has been sentenced to three years in prison for defaming the billionaire during a rally, a Thai court said on Tuesday.

Sondhi Limthongkul, the media baron who spearheaded street demonstrations that culminated in the coup against Thaksin, was released on 300,000 baht ($9,000) bail pending an appeal, the Criminal Court in Bangkok said.

He was convicted over claims made to a rally in Bangkok in March 2006, when Sondhi said that Thaksin had tried to have him assassinated.

Sondhi had also accused the government of burning down a stage used by the protesters on the resort isle of Phuket, and said Thaksin was overly superstitious.—AFP