As Robert Hazell, of University College London, points out, if Mr Brown really wanted to give up his right of dissolution, he would have advocated fixing the parliamentary term.

ECONOMIST: Constitutional reform

Under this reasoning, the calm, resolute Mr Abhisit was right to defy mob rule and the demand for the dissolution of parliament, and wait to unveil an orderly, slow electoral timetable.

ECONOMIST: Thailand's political stalemate