Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that he expected a new national police chief to be appointed next week, before his overseas trip later in the month.

Abhisit said he would wait for a few members of the Royal Thai Police's executive board to return from their overseas trip before calling its next meeting.

"It is likely that we will get a new police chief" when the board meets next week, he told reporters.

The prime minister also dismissed rumours that his secretary-general, Nipon Phrompan, had tendered his resignation amidst disagreement within the Democrat Party who should become the next police chief -- General Patheep Tanprasert or General Jumpol Manmai.

He also denied media reports that Nipon had met with some police board members to lobby for support to Jumpol. The PM reportedly favoured Patheep.

"The PM secretary-general and I don't have any conflict between us. We have good understandings about everything," Abhisit said.

The premier said he was confident of unity within the board and that he had no worries his nomination could be rejected again.

In the previous board meeting, the participants including Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul voted 5-4 to reject the PM's choice, Patheep.

Abhisit yesterday would not say whether his nomination would be Patheep again, arguing that he did not want to contribute to further confusion about the matter. But he reiterated that the law empowered him to nominate the police chief and the board to endorse his choice.

The prime minister is scheduled to attend an annual conference of the United Nations in New York between September 20 and 27.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said that it was natural for the Democrats to disagree on various issues. However, he believed that the differences could be settled with intervention from party seniors, such as Chuan Leekpai.

Sanan, once the Democrat secretary-general and now a deputy leader of the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party, said that given his diplomatic nature, he believed the prime minister would be able to solve the problem eventually.

--The Nation/ANN