Party to re-nominate Thai prime minister

BANGKOK, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, sacked by a court for appearing on a TV cooking show, accepted his party's decision to re-nominate him, sources said.

The decision to allow the beleaguered leader to regain his prime minister's post was taken by Samak's People Power party hours after a constitution court Tuesday disqualified him for violating the constitution by hosting two cooking shows on commercial television, the Bangkok Post reported Wednesday.

The report quoted sources as saying the party's decision was supported by other partners in the ruling coalition.

The Thai parliament, which is controlled by the six coalition parties, will vote Friday to pick a prime minister.

Although Samak has been sacked from his prime minister's post, he continues to be a parliament member, which allows him to hold political office, a party spokesman was quoted as saying.

Samak is under intense public pressure to resign, which led him to impose a state of emergency in Bangkok last week. His opponents claim his government is only a proxy for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who faces corruption charges. Samak has denied the allegations.