Thai vote winners face probe on Thaksin links

Thailand's Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case accusing the People Power Party, which won recent elections, of being a proxy of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a court official said Friday.
The decision could jeopardise the future of the PPP -- made up of former members of Thaksin's dissolved Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party -- even though it won 233 of the 480 seats in December 23 polls, the first since the coup in 2006.
An official at the Supreme Court said that they would hear the case against the PPP on January 15. Other complaints against the Election Commission (EC), which could lead to the poll being nullified, will be heard January 11 and 16.
"The judge on Thursday ordered the court to hear three election fraud cases," said the court official, who did not want to be named.
Samak Sundaravej, the PPP's leader, accused unnamed elements of trying to sabotage their efforts to form a government.
"They are trying hard to topple us by asking the court to void the election," he said.
"There are many obstacles in politics because of the invisible and dirty hand," he told the Thai parliament radio station.
PPP's victory dealt a blow to the military, who tried to purge Thailand of Thaksin's influence after ousting him in a bloodless coup in September 2006.