Bangkok  - Somchai Wongsawat, the brother-in-law of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, on Tuesday secured the full backing of the People Power Party to become the country's next premier after a party rift failed to scuttle his nomination.

"The People Power Party has reached a consensus to nominate Somchai as the next prime minister," said PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang.

The PPP was scheduled to meet with its five coalition partners Tuesday night to get their backing for Somchai's nomination, which is scheduled for a confirmation vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

The executives of PPP, which won the most seats in the December 23, 2007 election, on Monday nominated Somchai to be their candidate for the premiership. But the nomination was opposed by 73 rebels from the party faction of Newin Chidchop, a powerful politician whose support base is in north-east Thailand, the PPP's stronghold.

The Newin faction supported Surapong Suebwonglee, the current finance minister, as its candidate for the prime minister. But after a party meeting Tuesday, the group dropped its opposition to Somchai, Kuthep said.

The Newin faction was a keen supporter of former prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who lost the premiership last week after the Constitution Court found him guilty of illegally moonlighting as a TV cooking show host.

Initially the PPP, which holds 223 out of 480 seats in the Lower House of Parliament, renominated Samak as its candidate to become the next premier, despite the court's ruling and growing opposition to his rule.

Samak, 73, was finally forced to withdraw from the race after Parliament on Friday failed to attract a quorum to vote on the new prime minister, a not-so-subtle snub for Samak's candidacy from dissident factions of his party.

Both Somchai and Surapong have close ties to former premier Thaksin.

Somchai is married to a sister of Thaksin, a former policeman turned billionaire businessman who was ousted by a military coup on September 19, 2006 on charges of corruption, dividing the nation and undermining Thailand's democratic system and the monarchy.

A former permanent secretary at the Justice Ministry, Somchai is deemed a reputable alternative to Samak, but his nomination is unlikely to appease anti-government protests that have held Thailand's political system hostage for the past three weeks.

Somchai is generally seen as a compromiser who is best suited to solve internal party tensions and deal with the other coalition partners in the government.

"But there are questions within the PPP on whether he is strong enough to deal with the People Alliance for Democracy," said Chaturon Chaisaeng, a former deputy prime minister under Thaksin, who has close ties with the PPP.

Samak had been under intense pressure to resign since August 26, when thousands of followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) seized Government House and occupied the seat of Thailand's government administration.

The PAD protestors, who demanded Samak's resignation, have vowed to continue their demonstration at Government House if Somchai is elected the next prime minister.

The PAD is a loose coalition of groups adamantly opposed to a return of Thaksin's populist politics.

They view the PPP as a proxy for Thaksin and his allies who were barred from politics for five years by a Constitution Tribunal ruling in May 2007 that found them guilty of electoral fraud.

Samak attempted to force the PAD out of Government House on September 2 by declaring a state of emergency in the capital, but the military refused to use force to end the demonstration.

The state of emergency was lifted Sunday. (dpa)