Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's party and his leading rivals failed to agree yesterday on holding talks between the embattled premier and his opponents, amid rising concern whether snap polls can go ahead.
The three-hour meeting was the first time that representatives of Thaksin's party, the main opposition parties, and the organizers of mass street protests against him have held any sort of negotiations.
Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party proposed that a neutral mediator moderate talks behind closed doors to end the political crisis but insisted that the premier's rivals accept the results of April 2 snap elections, officials said.
PHOTO: EPA
"We can't accept the government's condition that we have to accept the result of the coming election," said Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the People's Alliance for Democracy, which has organized the protests aiming to oust Thaksin for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
The three main opposition parties are boycotting the election, and hundreds of candidates from small parties have been disqualified for failing to meet minimum requirements.
"Joint discussions, with the conditions set by the government, would be meaningless and the Thai people would not get anything from it," Suriyasai said.
The opposition and the protest organizers wanted Thaksin to agree to a televised debate on Friday to settle their differences, but the premier has insisted that all talks take place behind closed doors.
"We think that the debate set for March 24 would not benefit the new election so the government decided not to join the debate," government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said.
The meeting came amid rising concerns over the snap polls less than two weeks away.
The lack of candidates means the election could fail to produce a new parliament.
The Election Commission met all morning to consider postponing the vote and said it would continue its deliberations today.
But Thaksin has insisted that the polls should go ahead, although he has also hinted that he might be willing to step aside for long enough to make constitutional reforms sought by the opposition before holding new elections.
Hoping to salvage the election, Thaksin has styled it as a referendum on his government and has repeatedly vowed not to return as prime minister if he wins less than half the vote.
"April 2 is judgement day for Thai politics. Then we will know whether Thailand will turn its back on democracy," he said in a campaign speech broadcast yesterday.
"So I'm asking all the people to go to vote, to clearly show the real decision of the Thai people. All the parties involved, including those boycotting the election, must accept that decision," he said.
Thaksin has been at the center of a political storm since late January, when his family sold the telecoms conglomerate he founded to Singaporean investors in a tax-free US$1.9 billion dollar deal.
He called the elections three years early in hopes of ending weeks of street protests demanding his resignation.
One of the drafters of Thailand's constitution, Kanin Boonsuwan, has proposed the election be postponed by 120 days to give Thaksin and his rivals time to negotiate.
That would also push the election date back till after the celebrations planned for the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's coronation.
Monarchs from around the world have been invited to Bangkok in mid-June for what many here regard as a paramount national event.
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