A special bicameral parliament session continued on Sunday evening, aiming at sorting out a peaceful solution for Thailand's ongoing political turmoil.

The session opened at 1:30 p.m. (0630 GMT), chaired by parliament president and House Speaker Chai Chidchob.

A total of 460 elected members in the House of Representatives and senators attended the session.

MPs of opposition Democrat Party and some senators blamed Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his cabinet for causing the current political tension. Some, including opposition spokesman Jurin Laksanavisit, suggested Samak should resign as the protesters demanded to defuse the tension.

Samak replied that he had done nothing wrong as premier, so there was no reason for him to resign.

On the other hand, some MPs from the Samak-led People Power Party bombarded the anti-government civil group People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who led protesters to seize a state-run TV station, the government seat, ministries' offices and stormed police headquarters and airports in three southern tourist-significant provinces in the last few days, which they said have constituted a coup d'etat.

More than 1,000 pro-government demonstrators gathered outside the parliament in the afternoon to voice support for Samak.

The debate is expected to last till midnight.

The urgent parliament session was called as thousands of PAD-led protesters on Sunday continued their occupation in and around the Government House, which they seized on Tuesday in a so-called "final showdown" to oust the government led by Samak, and the tension exacerbated on Friday when violent clashes occurred between the police and protesters.

Earlier on Sunday in his weekly TV and radio address, Prime Minister Samak reiterated that he has no fear of the mass protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that pressed for his resignation. He vowed to stay on as premier, but said he had no intention to dissolve the parliament.

He also criticized the media and some senators for taking sides with the PAD for suggesting his resignation in the past days.

PAD leaders have voiced support for the opposition Democrat Party to form a government after they succeeded to topple the Samak government.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2008)