Saiyud Kerdphol, of the People's Network for Elections of Thailand (P-Net), called on the Criminal Court to take drastic action against the remaining commissioners to allow the Supreme Court to name a new EC panel.

He said the public had lost faith in the EC and wanted to see a fresh body come in to supervise the coming elections.

The court is expected to hand down a ruling in a malfeasance case relating to the April 2 elections on July 25.

Prayad Hongthongkham, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said as long as the EC stayed on, political problems would not go away.

But he welcomed the elections, saying the sooner they came the better.

''The further the elections are delayed, the more the damage will be to the country,'' he said.

His view was echoed by Vorachet Phakheerat, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, and outgoing senator Sak Korsaengreung, who feared the Oct 15 elections would bring more lawsuits and a repeat of previous problems.

''We may see a return of problems caused by the crisis of confidence in the government and the Election Commission,'' said Mr Sak.

Former Constitution Court judge Suchit Boonbongkarn said he believed the King had endorsed the decree because it was time to move on.

''Trouble will follow if we don't have a real government. It's impossible to let a caretaker government take charge, especially when it does improper things such as transferring senior government officials,'' he said.

However, some analysts believed the decree spelled doom for the commissioners.

Outgoing senator Kaewsan Atiphoti said that in the month before the royal decree takes effect, anything could happen.

''During the next month, the commissioners can be arrested and jailed. Just keep a close watch on the verdict on the EC's alleged abuse of power.

''If convicted and sent to jail, the commissioners will be stripped of their status and the selection process will begin,'' he said.

Mr Kaewsan said the dissolution cases against the Thai Rak Thai and Democrat parties would not have any bearing on the elections. The cases were unlikely to be finalised before the polls, he said.

Mr Suchit said the decree could send a signal that the two major parties being tried for alleged electoral fraud would not be dissolved.

Outgoing senator Chirmsak Pinthong criticised the government for pushing the decree while lawsuits involving the April 2 elections were pending in court.

The government welcomed the decree and called on parties involved to play their part to help the polls materialise.

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he hoped the two empty seats on the EC would be filled before the election took place.

Mr Thaksin said he would invite an international poll watch body to observe the elections and he assured that it would be a fair process.

The Democrat, Chart Thai and Mahachon parties, which boycotted the April 2 snap polls, announced they were ready for the political showdown.

But Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the party would continue campaigning against so-called ''Thaksinocracy'' while preparing for the polls.