BANGKOK - THAILAND'S parliament will hold an emergency session on Friday to name a new prime minister, after a court forced Samak Sundaravej out of office over a scandal surrounding his TV cooking shows.

'The process will start at 9.30am (10.30am Singapore time) on Friday, and each MP will have to vote openly in a roll call vote,' top parliamentary official Pitoon Punhiran told AFP.

'The only item on the agenda is to elect the prime minister,' Mr Pitoon said.

But the judges did not bar Samak from politics, and senior officials in the ruling People Power Party (PPP) had said they would use their parliamentary majority to vote him back into power.

After a key coalition partner voiced concern over re-electing Samak, the party's deputy leader indicated that PPP members were now 'consulting' on possible candidates.

The deputy leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Somchai Wongsawat, said that its members would meet over the next few days to consider their options.

He made the remarks after a key partner in the PPP's six-party coalition warned that returning Samak to the job could deepen the political stalemate in Thailand.

Protesters calling for Samak's resignation have occupied the grounds of the main government complex for two weeks, and a state of emergency has been imposed in Bangkok.

'For prime minister, we will consult again among PPP members in the next few days,' Mr Somchai told reporters after meeting with the Chart Thai party, the second-largest member of the coalition.

'I am confident that our six-party government will hold together strongly, and I am sure that there will be no rebellion,' he said.

Chart Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa said that he would support PPP without condition, but warned that bringing Samak back to power would do little to resolve the country's political crisis.

'I have asked PPP to be more prudent and to nominate a new prime minister who would be an acceptable compromise candidate, which would allow politics to move forward,' he said. -- AFP