Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Monday that he wants a political solution to a showdown with antigovernment protesters, signaling he may dissolve parliament and hold elections earlier than previously suggested. 'I, the government and coalition parties have been working together to revise proposals discussed prior to announcing the emergency decree, in an attempt to find a political solution,' Abhisit said in a televised address. A senior military official said elections may be the only way to end the stalemate. Abhisit's comments came after month-long protests in Bangkok erupted into violence over the weekend, killing 21 people and injuring more than 800. Demonstrators, many of them loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, remained camped in two areas of the capital, vowing to stay until Abhisit agrees to early elections. Earlier this month he proposed dissolving parliament at the end of the year. The benchmark stock index fell the most in six months Monday. Pressure to accommodate the demonstrators came from the military, as Army chief Anupong Paojinda called for parliament to be dismissed and new elections called. 'Political problems need to be resolved by political means,' Anupong said at a briefing Monday. 'I believe that a house dissolution should be the answer.' The government's coalition partners support a proposal to dissolve parliament by October, Somsak Prisananthakul, an adviser for the Chart Thai Pattana Party, said by phone Monday. Abhisit's opponents earlier this month rejected his offer to call an election within nine months, demanding he step down before the Thai New Year holiday, which starts Tuesday. 'We will continue our demonstration until Abhisit dissolves the parliament,' Jaran Ditapichai, a protest leader, said Monday by phone. 'It might take another week. Tomorrow many people may go home and we are worried the government will try again to order the army to disperse us.' The government and security forces are cooperating to protect the safety of the public, Anupong and Defense Minister Profit Wongsuwan said at a joint briefing Monday, denying rumors of a rift. They said troops didn't use live rounds during the April 10 clashes, blaming the violence on a third group that infiltrated the rally armed with guns and grenades. Protesters, many of whom wear red shirts to distinguish themselves from the political rivals, rejected calls to restart negotiations with the government. Their stance raises concerns that the worst political violence since 1992, when more than 40 people were killed in four days of fighting, may be repeated. 'Red Shirt leaders, whose bargaining position has been fortified by the security debacles on Friday and Saturday, will be less likely to compromise on important points and would likely reject an offer of elections six months hence,' PSA Asia, a Bangkok-based security and risk assessment consulting firm, said in a note to clients Monday. Troops and protesters maintained a cease-fire in Bangkok. Demonstrators are in makeshift camps near Government House and in the tourist and shopping heartland, where they are occupying a major intersection. Parts of the city's elevated train system, known as the skytrain, remained closed for a third day. 'We will not retreat from protest areas,' Nattawut Saikuar, a protest leader, said at a camp in Bangkok's commercial district. 'We will continue to fight here.' With assistance from Daniel Ten Kate, Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Yumi Teso in Bangkok. 