Bangkok - Thailand's army chief sharply undercut his prime minister on Thursday in saying on national television that - if he were premier - he would resign to take responsibility for the deaths of protestors.
General Anupong Paochinda denied intending to pressure Somchai Wongsawat to step down, saying that society, through popular protests, was already applying pressure.
The remarks appear likely to erode the credibility of Somchai, who is already considered a proxy former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is in exile. Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.
Somchai's Peoples Power Party (PPP) remains the most powerful in the country because it is backed by a great swathe of the rural poor impressed by the party's "populist" handout policies, but it is hated by the urban elites who accuse the party of being an extension of Thaksin's allegedly corrupt and anti-monarchist rule.
"If I were prime minister I would resign," said Anupong on live evening television. Two activists were killed and many maimed when police used explosive tear-gas grenades to lift a siege by protestors attempting to block the opening of Parliament.
Anupong and Queen Sirikit attended the funeral rights of the victims.
The army has appeared ambivalent in the political row that has divided the country; these remarks may show it has taken sides, said analysts in Bangkok.
Anupong said that if official investigations into the crackdown showed the authorities to be at fault then Somchai would certainly have to dissolve Parliament or resign, the general added. He said the harsh action had nothing to do with the army, but was a direct order from the government to the police.
Somchai took another hit earlier Thursday when the national corruption watchdog said it suspected him of guilty of turning a blind eye to corruption when he was a civil servant.
The National Counter Corruption Commission will ask the civil service committee of the Justice Ministry, where Somchai used to work as permanent secretary, to consider retroactively firing him for dereliction of duty. Officials also want the public prosecutor to file suit with the Supreme Court. Either successful action would bring down the prime minister.
The case started in 2000 when a senior judge, Chamnan Rawiwanpong, complained about corruption involving the sale of court-owned land in a province near Bangkok, with state fees not paid during the purchase. Somchai counter-attacked by demanding Chamnan's dismissal for disciplinary offences.
Somchai resigned from the civil service last year to run in a general election under the PPP banner. He was picked as prime minister a month ago after his predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was found guilty of being a remunerated TV chef, in contravention of political rules.
The case is one of an avalanche of legal actions that have been launched against Thaksin, his family and associates in the wake of the September 2006 coup that ousted him.
The current government is widely expected to fold in the near future under intense political pressure from Bangkok elites and the powerful elements in the military who appear determined to wipe Thailand clean of all Thaksin influence.
Political commentators note how earlier this year key players in the PPP traveled to London to meet Thaksin before Somchai announced his cabinet. - Sapa-dpa