BANGKOK, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on Friday brushed aside a suggestion by former prime minister Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej dissolve the House and resign to end the ongoing political turmoil, saying the current government has done nothing.

    "Gen. Chavalit has a right to make the comment," he said, adding that he disagreed with it because the government had only administered the country for four months and stepped up efforts to solve the economic hardships the public is facing from the oil and food price rises.

    The government has done nothing dishonest or corrupt. It retains a majority of votes from the people and so has legitimacy to administer the country, he said.

    The ongoing political turmoil stemmed from a failure by some groups of people to respect the democratic rule or accept the elected government, he added.

    Regarding the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) move to lead demonstrators to rally at Government House, he said that he believed police and officials concerned would be able to cope with the situation.

    Earlier, Gen. Chavalit, who is also a former army chief, said "the rally is likely to escalate and end up with violence unless the government is willing to express its clear stance and put the conflicts on the table."

    Under the circumstances, the only way left to end the violence and conflict is a military coup, he said.

    "To avoid that, the government should not hesitate to seek a democratic way to solve the problem," he said, adding "the prime minister might opt to dissolve the House and resign to allow the opposition party to join other coalition parties to form a new government."