Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has claimed victory in snap national elections, but the ballot failed to resolve a political crisis.
Mr Thaksin, accused of corruption and abuse of power by street protesters, said he would step down if a panel of former prime ministers, ex-judges and former university heads recommended it, but the main opposition Democrat Party rejected the offer.
Leading opposition parties boycotted the elections, and the Election Commission said 38 of 400 parliamentary constituencies had failed to produce a winner.
That will mean empty seats in the parliament, and will make it impossible for Mr Thaksin to form a new government.
The political crisis has taken its toll on the economy, paralysing business decision-making and sapping the stock market, Southeast Asia's worst performer of the year.
Mr Thaksin said his Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) had won more than half the ballot in yesterday's polls - a tally that released him from a promise to resign if it secured less than half the vote.
But TRT's vote dropped from 19m at the last elections in February 2005 to 16m . Ten million voters abstained - effectively a vote against the PM or chose minor parties with no chance.
The elections, which turned into a referendum on his leadership, seemed set to guarantee constitutional chaos in the absence of the reconciliation with opposition parties and street protesters that he sought.
The Prime Minister did not repeat his recent calls for law and order, seen by some as a threat to crack down on his opponents.
