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Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled Monday that the inconclusive April 2 general election was unconstitutional and said a new poll should be held to try to resolve months of political deadlock.

"The Constitutional Court voted eight to six that the elections were unconstitutional and voted nine to five to hold a new election," Judge Ura Wangomklang told reporters after the court met.

A spokesman later confirmed the ruling and said the government should set the date for a new poll.

However, in a sign of the constitutional confusion which is likely to ensue, a senior bureaucrat said it was actually up to the Election Commission (EC) to decide.

"It is the EC's job, not the government's," Cabinet Secretary-General Bovornsak Uwanno told reporters. "The EC will have to talk to every party to find an appropriate election date."

Earlier, another judge said the ruling would resolve the political crisis, although a clear way out of what revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej has described as a "mess" does not appear to be imminent.

The EC, widely criticized for its handling of the snap election, declined to comment until it had studied the ruling, EC spokesman Prasert Suthison told reporters.

The impasse was brought about by a boycott of the snap April poll by the opposition Democrat Party that left empty seats in parliament and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra unable to form a government.

Thaksin, a telecommunications billionaire, stood aside after a strong protest vote but members of his Thai Rak Thai party, including the deputy who has taken over his day-to-day duties, have said he would be eligible to run again if the poll was nullified.

Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the party "humbly welcomed" the court's decision and was "ready to compete in another election."

After a rare intervention by the king last month, the Democrats, who had argued the April poll was not fair, said they would participate in a re-run.

The court had been asked to rule on four issues the scheduling of the poll, whether ballot booths were positioned correctly, allegations of the government bankrolling smaller parties and the lack of a formal review of ballot results.

Thaksin called the election three years early to counter a Bangkok-based street campaign against him, but the plan backfired when the three main opposition parties refused to take part, campaigning instead for a protest "no" vote.

He announced a "political break" after the poll but his return to the public eye in the past week leading a cabinet audience with the king to mark Coronation Day has intensified speculation the move was purely cosmetic.

The People's Alliance for Democracy, the ad hoc coalition of street campaigners, have vowed to start their protests anew if the billionaire tycoon went back on his promise not to seek re-election.

Aides said the cabinet appearances did not point to Thaksin returning to politics, although newspapers speculated that rounds of golf he played with Thai Rak Thai leaders at the weekend were a prelude to an election campaign.

(China Daily May 9, 2006)