Bangkok: Thailand’s opposition protesters are plotting the appointment of an unelected premier in a move which government supporters warn could spark a civil war.

Six months after they launched their campaign, triggering violence that has left 25 dead and hundreds wounded on both sides, demonstrators have one foot inside the seat of power — and another rooted in the street.

In a highly symbolic challenge to the authority of the wounded administration, protesters have set up base inside a wing of the largely abandoned government headquarters, where they are now holding press conferences for the international media.

Thailand’s first female premier Yingluck Shinawatra was removed from office last week along with nine cabinet ministers in a controversial court ruling denounced by her supporters by orders of a court.

The remnants of her government are clinging to power, leaving the two sides as deadlocked as ever.