Embattled Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he was ready to dissolve parliament in September, paving the way for elections aimed at ending a crippling political crisis.
Thailand’s anti-government “Red Shirts,” who have been holding eight weeks of protests in a bid to force snap polls, have signed up to Abhisit’s reconciliation roadmap, which envisages holding national polls on Nov. 14.
After a long and bitter standoff, marred by outbreaks of violence that have left 27 dead and hundreds injured, they remain suspicious and want more details before leaving their vast protest encampment in central Bangkok.
“If there is a positive response to the roadmap, the dissolution date will be in the second half of September,” Abhisit told parliament, but held back from setting an exact timeframe.
“So far overall there has been a good response, including from Red Shirt protesters who have accepted it in principle,” he said, adding that he would launch discussions with all the warring factions today.
SETBACK
In a setback to Abhisit’s efforts to draw a line under the crisis, the pro-establishment “Yellow Shirts” — who had previously backed him — criticized his roadmap and urged him to stand down.
The group, formally known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy, accused Abhisit of conducting secret negotiations with representatives of the Red Shirts’ hero — former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
“The prime minister has reconciled with terrorists by planning to dissolve the House. It’s extremely bad for the country and the monarchy,” said Chamlong Srimuang, a core Yellow Shirts leader.
Thailand is largely split between the mainly rural poor and urban working class Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts, who blockaded Bangkok’s two main airports in 2008 before a controversial court verdict removed Thaksin’s allies from power.
Top Red Shirts have voiced optimism that the end is in sight for their supporters at the encampment, which is fortified behind makeshift barricades made of piles of fuel-soaked tires, razor wire and bamboo stakes.
One protest leader, however, told supporters to remain on guard, accusing the ruling Democrat Party of having backtracked on promises in the past.
“It doesn’t mean that we won’t join the reconciliation roadmap,” Weng Tojirakarn said. “That’s the resolution we have made by consensus and we will definitely take part, but we do not trust the Democrats and Abhisit.”
OFFER
A Democrat Party spokesman said the prime minister might reconsider his election offer if the protesters do not leave Bangkok, which remains under a state of emergency.
“If the Red Shirts continue to rally, it’s possible that the prime minister will not dissolve the House,” party deputy spokesman Warong Dechkitvigrom said. “From now on, there will be no talks with protesters.”
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS