The official told AFP that around 326 of the 941 candidates would not be allowed, most because they had not belonged to their parties for at least 90 days before election day, as mandated by Thai law.

"After we received reports from the provincial election officials, many candidates were disqualified," the official said, adding that officials were meeting Wednesday to finalize the list and approve the election date.

The announcement cast further doubt on the polls, which Thaksin called to quell the furor after his family sold its 1.9 billion dollar stake in a telecoms firm he founded.

The revised election line-up left Thaksin's party unchallenged in about 70 percent of constituencies, with most of those disqualified from tiny opposition parties largely unknown to the public.

Under Thai law, candidates running for uncontested seats must win votes from 20 percent of the registered voters in their district or run in a by-election.

If voters decide to stay home and leave a large number of seats empty, the new parliament could be hamstrung and unable to confirm Thaksin as prime minister, pushing Thailand into uncharted political territory.

With worries over the vote dominating Thai media, Thaksin said he was willing to consider a proposal to step aside long enough to allow for constitutional reforms sought by the opposition.

"I am open to considering every solution," the premier said when asked about the proposal while he was campaigning in the northeastern town of Buriram.

"I still have to decide what to do. I will make the best decision when the time comes," Thaksin said.

"If there is anyone who could work instead of me, I would not cling to my position," he said.

Thaksin's remarks came one day after some 70,000 protesters blockaded his office, in the latest mass protest to demand he step down over allegations of corruption.

Some 2,000 protesters were still camped outside his office Wednesday, vowing to remain until he agreed to resign.

Thaksin appeared to be reassessing his options after the protest, which police said was the largest since the demonstrations began February 4.

In one of his frequent cabinet reshuffles Tuesday, he promoted his top security official, Chidchai Vanasatidya, to become his first deputy.

Chidchai tried to downplay speculation that he was now next in line to lead the government should Thaksin leave office, saying: "I am not politically ambitious, and other people are more ready than me."

Thaksin also suffered a slight from military leaders Tuesday, who publicly contradicted his warning about declaring a state of emergency should the protest turn violent. The military leaders insisted such a move was unwarranted.

With 24 percent of voters still undecided, according to a poll in the Correiere della Sera newspaper, media tycoon turned politician Berlusconi and erstwhile EU executive president Prodi had both prepared carefully.

Polls have consistently pointed to victory for Prodi's centre-left coalition at the April 9-10 legislative elections, but a final outcome cannot be taken for granted, political analyst Renato Mannheimer said.

In their 90-minutes of televised jousting there were no new slogans or major insights but Prodi dominated in style and content.

Berlusconi, who heads the ruling centre-right coalition, often appeared on the defensive and was called to order several times by the debate mediator for over-running his alloted speaking time.

In his final comments, Berlusconi complained that the debate rules were "very strict" and had prevented him from replying in a "direct manner" or to properly explain his political agenda.

He nonetheless claimed to have won the debate.

Prodi came over as more relaxed and launched several barbs at his old political rival.

"After five years in government, you talk as if you are the opposition," he charged, after the prime minister had attacked the legacy of the leftist government he succeeded to power in 2001.

"What have you done during five years in government? Only those things that were in your interest?" he asked.

Shortly after that he took exception when Berlusconi called him "a front man for a divided coalition".

During the 1996 campaign, Berlusconi and Prodi appeared twice in televised debates, and both times Prodi emerged dominant -- helping his Olive Tree coalition to roll on to victory on polling day.

"Prodi showed himself to be more effective," opined political commentator Renato Mannheimer.

"Prodi chose to keep it simple and managed to joke about government spending while Berlusconi repeated his attacks against the left," he added.

Prodi spoke like a future prime minister "presenting his projects and above all his working methods while Berlusconi spoke like someone on the way out, defending his record with a flurry of figures," said Paolo Gentiloni, head of the Rai state television's monitoring group.

A second TV debate is scheduled for April 3 on Rai.

Every move and expression of the two protagonists was minutely scrutinised. Prodi waved his hands to illustrate his points while Berlusconi doodle geometric patterns on a piece of paper in front of him.

Berlusconi is in a position of some weakness after he was indicted Friday in Milan on corruption charges, and distanced himself from Francesco Storace who quit as health minister amidst a political espionage scandal.

Berlusconi also lost his cool on Sunday when he stomped out of a TV studio before the end of a recorded interview, accusing the journalist who was grilling him of being a left-winger who wouldn't let him answer questions.

The bomb, which was placed under the seat of the driver, went off at around 12:00 noon (1100 GMT) on a slip-road of the A1 motorway in the suburb of La Courneuve.

The passenger was taken to hospital.

The car belonged to a man in his 70s known to the police for his financial affairs, and the most likely theory was a settling of accounts in the criminal underworld, police said.

Now, as the number of Canadian military casualties rises, the dismayed public rightly asks, "What are we doing there? We thought it was another peacekeeping mission."

Thank Ottawa and Canada's media for misinforming the public. There was no significant debate in Parliament. The media indulged in flag-waving instead of warning Canadians they were walking into a small, but real, war.

Canadians are not peacekeeping in Kandahar: There is no peace to keep. They are there to help impose U.S. rule over Afghanistan, and safeguard routes for planned oil pipelines.

Canadian soldiers are on a war-fighting mission, auxiliaries in the U.S.-led military occupation of Afghanistan. In the southern heartland of the nation's largest tribe, the famously warlike and xenophobic Pashtun, U.S. forces and their allies are seen as foreign occupiers and enemies of Islam. Pashtun are slow to act but ferocious, and they never forget a wrong.

For some reason, Ottawa agreed to put its little garrison into Afghanistan's most dangerous area, Kandahar, in the centre of Pashtun territory and the heartland of the Taliban. Afghans do not differentiate between Americans and Canadians.

Fierce tribes

Afghan tribes are taking up arms against their foreign occupiers. I saw this happen during the 1980s, when growing hatred of Soviet occupation forces ignited a national uprising.

Today, in the eyes of many Afghans, the U.S. has merely replaced the Soviets. All past occupiers, starting with Alexander the Great, were driven out by the fierce Afghan tribes.

Canucks are prime targets. They lack effective liaison with circling U.S. warplanes that normally bomb and rocket any attackers within 2–3 minutes of an assault. Such deadly instant response by U.S. air power forced the resistance to resort to roadside explosives and car bombs, as in Iraq.

National resistance is growing. The U.S.-installed Karzai regime in Kabul would not last a day without foreign bayonets.

The former Taliban regime almost totally suppressed the heroin trade. Today, Afghanistan is a narcostate. It supplies 90% of the world's heroin – the economy runs on drug money. This is the "democratic" régime Canadian troops are defending with their lives.

Parliament, media, and all Canadians have got to begin debating what their soldiers are doing in this war that lacks any foreseeable political resolution. Forget all the cheery propaganda fed to the gullible press: Afghanistan is a dangerous mess and Canadians are right in the middle of it.

When more body bags come home from Kandahar, as they likely will, Canada's politicians are going to have to start explaining to the public what, exactly, its soldiers are dying for in Afghanistan.