by Ling Shuo

    BANGKOK, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Samak Sundaravej, leader of the People Power Party (PPP) which won a relative majority seats of Thai parliament during the Dec. 23 general election last year, smiled without reply on Monday while asked by local media about the upcoming premier post.

    The smile, was understood by local press that, the political veteran is very likely to take over the premiership from the interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont on this Friday, during a parliament meeting.

    In fact, as soon as the 72-year-old former Bangkok Governor became chairman of the PPP last June, he has expressed before several mass rallies that he was wishing to be the new prime minister. His famous saying then is "If not for the premiership, why I am here for campaign?"

    As his PPP won the election by 233 of the 480 parliament seats in December, Samak seemed getting quiet. He closed himself at home, attended party activities with a low-profile attitude, and showed carefulness before media.

    Samak's move was reportedly because many undecided issues were still troubling the PPP, such as the suspected electoral frauds which the Election Commission were still investigating, the lawsuits which demanding court to dissolve the PPP, and also the ambiguous mind of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister and the "real spirit" of the PPP.

    However, the Supreme Court cleared the initial legal barriers facing Samak and his PPP last week, eliminating the danger of party dissolution. Thaksin, who is now in London, also expressed his preference to have Samak to be the new prime minister.

    The high court said last Friday it had no authority to rule on the allegations that the PPP and Samak were nominees of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

    As a result, the PPP and five small parties finalized the composition of the new government on Saturday, with a total of 315seats. And on Monday afternoon, the parliament officially opens.

    For Samak, one of his initial challenges, will be winning broad-based public support for his choice of the Cabinet members, especially those responsible for the country's economic affairs. This means that those appointed to the finance, commerce, agriculture, industry, transport, energy and related portfolios need to be highly qualified, with track records showing competency or Samak will not be able to bolster public confidence in the new government.

    The honeymoon period, if there is to be one, will be brief given that the Thai economy, as well as consumers and businesses, have all been suffering from the political divide over the past two-to-three years, local analysts said.

    Besides economic issues, Samak's political shrewdness will also be put to the test when he has to deal with a number of political time-bombs awaiting the new government, especially the PPP plan to seek amnesty for the 111 former executive members of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party, including Thaksin, who were barred from politics for a period of five years by a court ruling last May.

    Samak will also have to manage the comeback of Thaksin from his exile in London in a fashion that will help heal the wounds caused by the political divide while keeping his hands off alleged corruption and abuse of power cases against the ex-premier and his family.

    A lawsuit is now pending in court alleging that the ex-premier abused his power by endorsing his wife's purchase of a multibillion-baht plot of prime real estate from the state while he was in office in the early 2000s. In addition, the Department of Special Investigation has accused the ex-premier and his wife of hiding assets in a family-controlled company. All of these cases and related legal issues are best left to the judicial system. However, Samak will be on a tightrope when he faces pressure from within his own party to seek amnesty for fellow executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party.

    And also, the Constitution installed by the military after the Sept. 19, 2006 coup is reportedly to be amended as the first task of the new government. But, that may stir more complaints of those who benefits from the military-edition Constitution.

    Anyway, Samak is much close to the post of premier. Local English newspaper Bangkok Post's Deputy Editor-in-Chief Veera Prateepchaikul said in his Monday's editorial that "unless there is a miracle, which is unlikely, Samak Sundaravej will definitely be named Thailand's 25th prime minister on Friday when the House is due to nominate a candidate or candidates for the premier's post."

    But maybe, the next problem following is how long can Samak hold the post.