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Thai protesters vow more rallies unless PM resignsThai protesters vow more street rallies if prime minister doesn't step down immediately
KINAN SUCHAOVANICH
AP News
Apr 13, 2010 06:11 EDT
Anti-government protesters threatened Tuesday
to unleash another street "offensive" aimed at deposing the prime minister and described an unexpected ruling that his party be disbanded as just a ploy to buy time in Thailand's political crisis.
On Monday, the Election Commission ordered the
dissolution of the Democrat Party for allegedly concealing campaign donations, while the powerful
army chief threw his weight behind calls for new elections.The moves were initially expected to blunt demonstrations by thousands of red-shirted protesters whose monthlong campaign exploded into brutal clashes with security forces Saturday, killing 21 people and wounding hundreds in the country's worst political violence in nearly two decades.
Protest leaders accuse troops of gunning down demonstrators while the government says still unidentified "terrorists" were behind the killings. Reporters saw assault rifles and other weapons in the hands of some of the "Red Shirt" protesters. The government says officers only shot their weapons over the heads of charging protesters.
Though the commission's decision lends weight to the protesters' cause, it must still be approved by the Attorney General's office and the Constitutional Court — a potentially
lengthy process. Weng Tojirakarn, a key protest leader, told The Associated Press that the group was therefore sticking to its demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva immediately dissolve Parliament and hold elections.
"This is a long legal process. It can be a ploy for Abhisit to buy time," Weng said. "If Abhisit dissolves Parliament at noon today, we'll have all gone home by three in the afternoon. Just say the word and this whole protest will end."
At loggerheads in the yearslong struggle for power in Thailand are the rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — whose ouster in a 2006 coup exposed the country's deep political divisions — and the traditional ruling elite represented by Abhisit and his allies. Abhisit's supporters include
business leaders, the military brass, the judiciary and bureaucrats — supported by the urban middle class.Abhisit's removal may not provide a permanent solution, for it may fuel another round of counter-demonstrations by his supporters.
The Red Shirts vowed to march Wednesday on a military barrack where the prime minister has been living during the crisis if the army didn't "immediately stop sheltering a murderer like Abhisit," according to protest leader, Nattawut Saikua.
Calling for an
"offensive mobilization," Nattawut said that even if Abhisit stepped down, he would face murder charges. Earlier, the Red Shirts called for him to leave the country.
Despite threats of further confrontations, tensions have subsided in the Thai capital since Saturday. On Tuesday a festive air took hold as residents, foreign tourists and many protesters began celebrating the three-day Thai New Year, or Songkran, an annual orgy of water fights, dancing and heavy drinking.
The Red Shirts wielded water pistols and super-sized guns in several quarters of the city. Others doused passers-by with water out of big barrels on the back of pickup trucks.
"After I saw that our brothers and sisters died like this, I would not have fun celebrating Songkran if I had gone home. I feel better if I stay here and fight for democracy," said Denchai Thanuson, a protester from an outlying province. As he spoke his children clambered atop military armored cars crippled in the clashes and shot off their waterguns.
In Washington, Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya lashed out at Thaksin, accusing the fugitive of personally instigating the recent deadly clashes and calling him a "bloody terrorist."
Speaking Monday on the sidelines of a global nuclear summit in Washington, Kasit compared Thaksin to dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and al-Qaida, and faulted foreign governments for allowing him entry despite his being a fugitive from justice at home. He was convicted in absentia on corruption charges.
Thailand has seen three governments in the four years since the 2006 coup, and Kasit acknowledged that his country has "not found the right formula. We have not found the compromise."
In Bangkok, Thanis Sriprathes, deputy secretary-general of the Election Commission, told reporters that Abhisit's party was found guilty of failing to disclose — as required by law — that it
received 258 million baht ($8 million) from TPI Polene, a cement producer.The commission was scheduled to unveil its ruling on April 20, but announced it more than a week early without explanation. The Constitutional Court has not yet said when it will hear the case.
Abhisit suffered another blow when army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda told reporters that dissolving Parliament and calling new elections might resolve the country's political crisis.
The army chief was until now seen as a staunch backer of the prime minister. The apparent about-face puts Abhisit under renewed pressure given that the army is an influential force in the country's politics — and has not hesitated to stage coups during previous bouts of political instability.
The root of the current unrest goes back to 2006 when the coup drove Thaksin from power amid accusations of corruption. Each of the three governments since then has been dogged by street protests by rival groups.
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Associated Press writers Grant Peck, Denis D. Gray, Thanyarat Doksone, Vijay Joshi and Jocelyn Gecker, and Foster Klug in Washington, contributed to this report.
Source: AP News
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