May 6, 2006
BANGKOK (AFP) - Outgoing Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday he has retired from politics so reporters should stop questioning him about a political comeback.
"Why are you waiting for me?" he asked reporters gathered outside a Bangkok golf club where he was due to play with senior members of his party.
"You don't need to follow me, I'm old and already retired," he said.
Thaksin, 56, has refused to speak about his political future and has largely kept a low profile since stepping aside as premier after controversial snap elections last month.
However senior members of his Thai Rak Thai party have said Thaksin could run for the top job if fresh elections were called to resolve the country's political crisis.
The Constitutional Court will rule Monday morning on whether to nullify the April 2 polls which could pave the way for new ones.
Thaksin's party won the April 2 elections, but his victory was undermined by an opposition boycott and strong protest vote that forced him to step aside.
He had called the polls in hopes of quelling months of street protests accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. But the election failed to fill all the seats in parliament which left the country facing a political deadlock.
Thaksin never resigned his post and has remained the official prime minister, even though an acting premier has been running the government for the last month.
The former telecoms tycoon also remains leader of his party that he founded and a parliamentarian.
On Friday he returned to his first official duties by presiding over a royal ceremony and gala dinner to mark Coronation Day.
During the ceremony, Thaksin reportedly told former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa that he would not accept any official posts in a new government.
"(But) I am not so sure whether Thaksin really meant it," the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Banharn as saying Saturday.
The influential king broke through Thailand's political deadlock late last month by ordering the courts to resolve the turmoil. He also called the April 2 elections "undemocratic" in a nationally televised address.
Two of Thailand's most powerful courts quickly took up the matter, and within days cast doubt on the validity on the polls.