Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday rejected a call for her to resign to pave the way for a "neutral" interim government.
Unpaid rice growers continue their protest outside the Commerce Ministry for a second day to demand the caretaker government pay for rice they have sold under the rice-pledging scheme. Apichit Jinakul
Her government will continue doing its job in a caretaker capacity as set out by the constitution, she said.
Pridiyathorn: Wrote open letter to premier
Ms Yingluck was responding to a call by former finance minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula who urged Ms Yingluck in an open letter on Thursday to step down and make way for a ''neutral government''.
The prime minister also questioned the scope of the powers a neutral government would have.
She doubted whether an interim government would have more power to run the country than the current government.
''If a [neutral] government is allowed to work and have more power, it would involve tearing up the constitution [to give them more power].
''All of us need to protect democracy and its mechanisms to keep the democratic system going,'' she said.
Ms Yingluck also said that voter turnout of 20 million people during the election spoke volumes about the public's intent to uphold the democratic system.
MR Pridiyathorn yesterday insisted the current constitution allows the appointment of outsiders to run the country on an interim basis.
He said the issue about a neutral government is complicated and sensitive but it is allowed by the constitution.
''If the current government still had credibility, I wouldn't have made the proposal and put myself under fire. I wouldn't do a thing if we could have a new government in a month,'' he said.
He denied any involvement in the so-called ''Khao Yai declaration'' in which several leading figures were alleged to have met at the Khoa Yai mountain resort to plot the formation of a government comprising neutral people.
MR Pridiyathorn is alleged to have been designated as a deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs. He said he was unaware such a plan existed.
He said so many people have come out against the government because they can not tolerate corruption and anti-democratic behaviour like trying to sneak through the amnesty law.
''The point of interest now is for some people to go and talk to the prime minister so that the country can survive. I can not talk to her. If I could I would not have written the open letter,'' MR Pridiyathorn said.
He said that 3-4 million people have come out to protest against the government on the streets of Bangkok and many more feel the same way but have not yet done so. This is a very large number of people and the government must pay attention to them as well, he said.
''In a good democratic system, you must take care of these people as well otherwise it is more like a dictatorship,'' MR Pridiyathorn said.
According to MR Pridiyathorn, he was approached to serve as a deputy premier in the Yingluck administration.
He said he rejected the offer after he and the Pheu Thai-led government could not resolve their differences over the 300-baht minimum wage and the rice-pledging scheme.