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Thai former PM Samak resigns as party leader

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-30 17:32

BANGKOK -- Thailand's former premier Samak Sundaravej on Tuesday resigned as leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the party will issue an announcement later, a party source told Xinhua.

Former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is questioned by journalists during his departure from Parliament in Bangkok on September 12, 2008. [Agencies]

Samak, who was ordered to leave the Prime Minister Post after a court ruling on September 15 for violating the constitution by hosting two cooking shows on commercial television, submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

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The Party will held a press conference late Tuesday, but the source said Samak would not attend the conference.

Anyway, Samak still maintains his position as a Parliament Member of the PPP.

Samak rarely showed up in public after he was disqualified from the government's top post. He even skipped his voting right on a Parliament Session on September 17 during which the PPP's deputy leader Somchai won more than half support from the 480-seat House of Representatives and became Thailand's 26th Prime Minister.