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A Thai court ordered a halt to by-elections on Friday, saying there may be grounds to rule the inconclusive April 2 snap general election unlawful.

An Administrative Court statement appeared to leave parliament unable to meet by the May 2 deadline because the constitution says only a complete legislature can convene. It also appeared to make new elections almost inevitable.

The court, which rules on the legality of government actions, said petitions it would hear soon might lead it to declare the April 2 election unlawful.

"There are enough reasons to issue an injunction before the court ruling," the statement said.

The court said there was no point holding by-elections on Saturday to fill 14 seats left empty on April 2 and after a re-run for those seats because the unopposed candidates did not win the required 20 percent of the eligible vote.

The Election Commission, accused by critics of mishandling the polls boycotted by the main opposition parties, ordered election workers to abide by the ruling but said it would appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Friday's ruling came hours after chief judges of the three main courts said they would rule swiftly on cases involving the elections and their rulings "would go in the same direction".

The Constitutional Court was due to hear two similar cases on Monday involving the April 2 poll which plunged the country into turmoil and prompted a rare royal intervention.

Revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej's denunciation on Tuesday of an election which left all but a few seats in the hands of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party as undemocratic had fostered expectations the judges would annul it.

Thaksin called the election little more than a year after winning a second landslide hoping it would end a street campaign to oust him by foes accusing him of corruption and abuse of power charges he denied.

Instead, Thai Rak Thai won fewer votes than in the previous election in February last year and a substantial number of people abstained, effectively a vote against Thaksin, who remains prime minister officially.

However, Thaksin handed over day-to-day power to a deputy and said he would not be a candidate for the job when parliament does meet.

That did not satisfy the opposition, which said any successor would be controlled by Thaksin and insisted on political reforms before they would run in elections.

Still, the king's direct intervention his first since stepping in to end a bloody confrontation between "people power" protesters and a military government in 1992 brought hope a solution will be found.

It obliged the three main opposition parties to drop their insistence on political reforms before they contest elections.

(China Daily April 29, 2006)