Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra abruptly announced yesterday he will step down from office, bowing to a mounting opposition campaign seeking his ouster over allegations of corruption and abuse of power.
His announcement came just hours after Thaksin met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the monarch's seaside palace in Hua Hin.
"I will not accept the post of prime minister when the parliament convenes," Thaksin said in a 10-minute statement during a nationally televised press conference.
He said he made his decision out of respect for the monarch.
"My reason for not accepting the post of prime minister is because this year in an auspicious year for the king, whose 60th anniversary on the throne is just 60 days away," Thaksin said. "I want all Thais to reunite."
"I beg all Thais to sacrifice for the king. I apologize to my 16 million supporters that I cannot take the post of prime minister, but I will still carry on as a caretaker prime minister until my successor is chosen," he said.
"I will remain a member of parliament and the Thai Rak Thai party leader," he said.
Thaksin said that his replacement would be elected once parliament resumes within the next 30 days.
Immediately after the speech, Thaksin -- who is battling allegations of corruption and abuse of power -- hugged his daughters and wept on their shoulders while his wife put her arms around him.
His announcement came as opposition forces were gearing to resume their anti-government protests and early results from Sunday's elections showed his popularity had plummeted.
Thaksin's party won 57 percent of Sunday's parliamentary poll, according to preliminary results, but scores of voters abstained, including a majority in Bangkok.
Thaksin's critics -- who for two months have been staging rallies drawing as many as 100,000 people -- rejected his idea of a reconciliation committee as insincere and called for new protests this week.
The main opposition parties boycotted Sunday's poll, leaving Thaksin's party uncontested in 278 of 400 constituencies for the lower house of parliament.
The boycott left 38 constituencies undecided, because the sole candidate in each race failed to win a required 20 percent of the vote, according to the unofficial results.
Thaksin's announcement last night was particularly surprising, given that he said on TV on Monday that he saw no reason to resign since results showed that his party had won 16 million votes.
A key leader of the protests to oust Thaksin declared victory just moments after the prime minister finished his speech.
"This is our victory. If we had not helped each other [in the protests], today would not have happened," Chamlong Srimuang said.
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
REBUFFED: In response to Chinese criticism over recent arms sales, Washington urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue instead of threats and intimidation Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues. The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin
RSS