January 19, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 09, 1429

BANGKOK, Jan 18: Thailand’s Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for allies of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra to form a government, rejecting legal challenges to their victory in last month’s polls.

The People Power Party (PPP), which campaigned as Thaksin’s political successor, won general elections on Dec 23 but fell just shy of a majority of the 480 seats in parliament.The party’s victory was threatened by cases at the Supreme Court as well as dozens of vote fraud investigations before the Election Commission.

On Friday the court rejected the most important legal challenges, including a charge filed by a rival politician accusing the PPP of being an illegal front for Thaksin.

After Thailand’s military toppled Thaksin’s government in September 2006, the deposed premier was barred from politics for five years and his once-dominant Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party disbanded.

The court also rejected charges that the PPP broke election law by distributing CDs featuring videos of Thaksin, who has been living in exile since the coup.

Shortly after the court ruling, the Election Commission announced that it had settled most of the vote fraud investigations and certified the wins of 460 of the 480 members of parliament.—AFP