Wed, December 03, 2008
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States hopes Thailand's political crisis will come to an end following the Thai constitutional court's verdict calling for the prime minister to step down, the State Department said Tuesday.
"We certainly hope it will eventually lead to a resolution of the crisis," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood told a news briefing.
"Basically, it's an internal Thai matter that's being dealt with under ... the Thai constitutional court," Wood said, adding that "we're following the situation very closely. And we'll have to see how things play out."
Thailand's anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)held mass protests and besieged the suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in a showdown to topple the government. It led to a large number of flight cancellations which stranded tens of thousands of foreign travelers.
The country's Constitution Court on Tuesday said the three ruling parties in the coalition government -- People Power Party (PPP), Chart Thai Party and Matchima Thipataya Party were guilty of electoral fraud. It ordered them to be dissolved.
All three party's executives were banned from the electoral process for five years as punishment in line with the 2007 Constitution.
The verdict effectively removes Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from his post as the government's leader.
