Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont has admitted he was the speaker in the controversial audio clip about the ruling Pheu Thai Party's charter amendment and reconciliation bill strategy.
He insisted what he said was in the interests of the public.
Mr Somsak was speaking to reporters for the first time after the audio clip was distributed on Tuesday night.
At the Constitution Court yesterday, he said the voice clip contained his conversation with people close to him in a private party and that its release surprised but did not worry him.
Mr Somsak denied an accusation from the opposition Democrat Party that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra exerted influence over his work as the parliament president.
In the clip, Mr Somsak referred to Thaksin's apparently hasty push for the charter amendment and reconciliation bills but he himself strongly suggested that the legislation attempts be postponed for three to six months pending attempts to woo public support.
"You may remember that before the third reading of the constitution amendment bill, I said I would decide in the national interest and I have kept my word by delaying the third reading of the charter amendment bill. The words in the clip clearly prove that I kept my word," Mr Somsak said.
He is not worried about the Democrat Party's plan to use the audio clip to back an impeachment bid against him for allegedly being a "biased parliament president". He said the issue was trivial and groundless.
The Democrat Party, meanwhile, is pondering its next move against the Pheu Thai Party in connection with what Mr Somsak said in the audio clip.
Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said yesterday what Mr Somsak said in the recording showed Thaksin was behind the efforts to amend the charter and push the reconciliation bills through parliament.
The spokesman said the Democrat Party was considering asking the Office of the Ombudsman to probe Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ethics; seeking the removal of Mr Somsak as parliament president on ethical grounds; establishing if Thaksin had interfered in the cabinet; and seeking the dissolution of the Pheu Thai Party for being under the command of Thaksin, a fugitive on the run from a 2008 corruption conviction.
In the clip, Mr Somsak noted that it was good for Ms Yingluck to leave hot-button political issues with parliament.
Democrat and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday demanded Mr Somsak maintain his political impartiality as befitting the parliament president and explain himself.
Mr Abhisit also criticised Mr Somsak's remark suggesting Ms Yingluck distance herself from political issues and leave them to parliament.
He said the remark destroyed the principle of responsibility and that the prime minister had to take responsibility for what happened in the country, especially when it came to the outcomes of the actions of her government and then Pheu Thai Party.
Mr Abhisit said Mr Somsak's recorded comments showed efforts were ongoing to whitewash Thaksin's wrongdoings.
He said this was evident in Mr Somsak saying the government should spend the next three to six months convincing the public to support its reconciliation and charter amendment bills.
This suggests the government is looking to rethink its strategy on bringing Thaksin back from self-exile overseas and is waiting for the right time to do so, Mr Abhisit said.