Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com). Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it exclusively produces is in the public domain. Thousands Rally in Thailand to Support Embattled Prime Minister --------------------------------------------------------------- http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1133533:3919ACA Thaksin Shinawatra is refusing to step down and instead has called snap elections for a new parliament In Thailand, thousands of people are gathering in downtown Bangkok for a mass rally to show support for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after a series of demonstrations calling for his resignation. The prime minister is refusing to step down and instead has called snap elections for a new parliament. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Bangkok. Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, left, receives roses from his supporters upon his arrival for an election registration at national stadium in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, March 2, 2006Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says there are misunderstandings about his family's controversial $2 billion stock sale last month. Mr. Thaksin says he will use Friday's rally to explain all issues that have been distorted. The tax-free stock sale from a Thaksin company was legal, but it angered many Thais who felt it was unethical. There have been almost weekly protests calling for the prime minister's resignation because of corruption and abuse of office. Mr. Thaksin, seeking to defuse the situation, last week dissolved parliament and called elections for April 2. The prime minister's Thai Rak Thai party and four small parties Thursday registered for the elections called three years early and only one year after Mr. Thaksin's landslide re-election. However, the three main opposition parties have vowed to boycott the vote and have given the prime minister until Monday to step down. Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of the opposition Democrat Party, talks to reporter after discussing Thailand's political crisis at party headquarters on Thursday, March 2, 2006Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of the Democrat Party, told reporters the election will not be fair because the Thaksin government has undermined the democratic system by gaining control over the election commission and other independent bodies. "We are protesting a new form of dictatorship and authoritarianism," he said. "We do not want to be part of a process that extends this license to corruption and violation of rights." The opposition wants an appointed government that would oversee reforms to the nine-year-old constitution. The opposition is to hold another mass rally Sunday in Bangkok and says if the prime minister does not resign, it will take the protest to the streets. A member of the prime minister's party, former government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair, says Mr. Thaksin has agreed to revise the constitution after the election. "We responded favorably to that need to reform the political (process) in the form of constitutional amendments," he said. "But it needs to be the consensus among political parties that we have to come to this path together." The prime minister's supporters say the opposition - by calling for his resignation and refusing to participate in the elections - is acting outside the constitution. A professor at Bangkok's Thamassat University, Somphob Manarangsan, notes that 14 years after the end of the last military government, democratic institutions in Thailand are still fragile. "Most of the independent regulatory (bodies) have been seriously intervened (interfered with) in the past four or five years," he said. "So that means the institutional factor is going to be very, very shaky, very weak." Positions have hardened in recent days, leading to fears of violent confrontations and possible military intervention. However, armed forces commanders have pledged to uphold democracy and urged the demonstrators to remain peaceful.