BANGKOK: Thailand’s ruling party on Saturday urged deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra to leave the political stage after the top court ordered the seizure of more than half of his 2.3-billion-dollar fortune. The fugitive tycoon said the verdict had made him a “political martyr” of an elitist political system, but politicians from the country’s ruling coalition said he should accept the ruling and stop inciting his supporters.

“Every side should accept the verdict. We want to ask Thaksin to quit the political movement,” Theptai Seanapong, a spokesman for the ruling Democrat party, said.