Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva should resign as an MP now that the Defence Ministry had issued an order to strip him of his military rank, says a Pheu Thai Party spokesman.
The case in which Mr Abhisit was accused of draft-dodging was closely followed by the general public, who wanted to see whether the former premier had really used falsified military documents as alleged, said Prompong Nopparit.
Because the defence panel had ruled that Mr Abhisit had dodged military conscription and the Defence Ministry had stripped him of his rank and pay, he should resign as an MP to show political responsibility, the spokesman said.
Former Pheu Thai leader Yongyuth Wichaidit had earlier resigned as MP and interior minister after he was found guilty of mishandling the Alpine Golf Course land sale a decade earlier.
Mr Prompong said Mr Yongyuth had made his decision on principle, even though the Election Commission and the Constitution Court had not yet given their ruling on the case brought by the Democrats.
If Mr Abhisit fails to show his political spirit by stepping down, Mr Prompong said he would take the case to the Constitution Court and ask it to rule whether the opposition leader was still qualified to be an MP.
He insisted that this was not a political game to discredit the opposition leader, and that he just wanted the former prime minister to show responsibility.