Thailand’s government is to ask the army to deploy more troops in the capital, Bangkok, as fears mount that the country’s lengthy political crisis could move into a more violent phase.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul yesterday voiced concern about the potential for clashes between pro and anti-government groups if Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is ousted next month as a result of legal cases brought against her.
Yingluck, who has faced six months of street protests aimed at forcing her out, has been charged with abuse of power for her transfer of National Security Council boss Thawil Pliensri in 2011, which opponents say was done for personal and party political reasons. If found guilty, she may have to step down.
Yingluck’s ousting would be the latest twist in nearly a decade of confrontation between her brother, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the Bangkok-based royalist establishment, who see Thaksin, a populist former telecom tycoon, as a threat to their interests.
Both sides can whip up large crowds on the streets and both sides have armed activists in their ranks.
“There are important legal cases coming up next month and the red shirts will rally,” said Surapong, who heads the Center for the Administration of Peace and Order, which coordinates the state’s handling of the protests.
The Red Shirts are supporters of the Shinawatras and Yingluck’s government and they have vowed to resist any bid to force Yingluck from office, by either the courts or anti-government protesters.
“We are worried there will be violence and clashes between the protesters and the Red Shirts, which is why we must increase the presence of troops to protect security,” Surapong told reporters.
A Feb. 2 election that Yingluck looked set to win was disrupted by the protesters, who stopped candidates from registering and blocked polling stations. As a result, a court nullified the election last month and the Election Commission has yet to set a new date.
Opposition leader and former Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also warned of an escalation in violence next month and offered to help kick-start dialogue between the different parties and groups involved in the protest.
“I think there are many people who want to see common ground emerging. My intention this week is to say that: isn’t it time we all accept the reality that neither side can get its way, and even if it did, it couldn’t bring long-lasting stability,” he said in an interview.
In a message posted on YouTube, he added that upcoming court verdicts would not solve the problem either, nor would any intervention by Thailand’s coup-prone army.
“The courts cannot tell us how the country will move forward in a manner that all sides will accept,” Abhisit said. “And I don’t believe that a coup, by whoever, or military intervention, will bring peace back to the country.”
The government and Suthep Thaugsuban, the leader of the anti-government protests, have not accepted Abhisit’s invitation to talk.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
RSS