Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dismissed calls for his resignation yesterday, heightening tension after thousands of anti-government activists marched to his office and vowed to rally every day until he steps down.
"I will not resign because my resignation will not resolve anything," Thaksin told reporters.
The commander in chief of the army, meanwhile, sought to ease speculation of the army intervening and staging a coup, as it did in 1992 and more than a dozen other times during earlier political crises.
PHOTO: EPA
"The army will not get involved in the political conflict. Political troubles should be resolved by politicians," said General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, echoing comments of other top military officials. "Military coups are a thing of the past."
At least 100,000 protesters filled the streets around Government House on Sunday and stayed until well past midnight following a boisterous rally. Some 2,000 remained early yesterday and vowed to regroup in larger numbers later in the day.
Thaksin said he had not personally followed the events of the rally but was informed by aides that protesters "were insisting on ousting me." He left Bangkok early on Sunday to campaign in the northeast for snap elections he has called for April 2.
PHOTO: EPA
"As long as the people support me, I will still work because that is how a democracy works," Thaksin told a cheering crowd of supporters in northeastern Khon Kaen Province yesterday.
Tens of thousands of protesters have been demanding his resignation at regular weekend rallies in recent months, putting him on the defensive and leading to the country's biggest political crisis since 1992, when street protests forced the ouster of a military backed government.
The anti-Thaksin campaign swelled last month after the prime minister's family sold its controlling stake in telecom giant Shin Corp to a Singapore state-owned investment company netting 73.3 billion baht (US$1.9 billion). Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and tax dodges.
A group of activists seeking to have the elections declared unconstitutional had filed a petition to Administrative Court. But the court, which handles complaints against state bodies, said yesterday that it was unqualified to accept the petition, said Ampol Singakowin, the court's spokesman.
Meanwhile, in rural areas, where about two-thirds of Thailand's 63 million people live, Thaksin's popularity remains untarnished. In the country's vast and populous rice-farming heartland, it approaches adoration. Farmers and owners of small businesses say their lives have been transformed and that their incomes have doubled during Thaksin's five years in power.
"Even if someone paid me I wouldn't go to an anti-Thaksin demonstration," said Suwat Laocharuen, the village chief of Baan Nonsawan. "We just love him."
Both Thaksin and his opponents expect his party to win the most seats in next month's election. But in a sign of the deepening split between Bangkok and the provinces, the opposition, which draws much of its support from Bangkok and parts of the south, has decided to boycott the poll.
Thaksin's critics have accused him of corruption and abuse of power, charging that he has stripped key institutions of their independence -- the courts, the press, the anti-corruption authorities -- and that he uses his office to further his business interests.
But the argument that Thaksin must therefore resign does not wash with Suwat, the village chief.
"It's not fair that a leader gets two-thirds of the vote and then is brought down by street demonstrations," he said.
In the election in February last year, Thaksin won 61 percent of the vote, a landslide by Thai standards.
He cemented the loyalty of rural Thais with a three-year moratorium on their debts and a government program that offered US$26,000 to every village, from which residents could borrow for small business ventures.
Partly as a result, rural incomes increased 29 percent in 2001, the first year Thaksin was in power, 23 percent the next year and by double digits each year since. Last year, the average rural income reached US$821, according to the Rural Development Information Center of the Interior Ministry.
Baan Suksomboon residents said they would be bitter if Thaksin is removed from power.
"Of course I will be angry," said Muthita Shinpromma, who works at a factory stitching Nike sweatpants for US$3.70 a day. "
Thaksin is helping people at the grassroots," she said.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed. Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” “Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines
RSS