BANGKOK — A civil court Wednesday upheld
the Thai government’s emergency decree, which allowed authorities to
detain protestors and hold them for a month without charges. But the
judges warned the government against using the state of emergency as a
pretext to use force against anti-government demonstrators.
The government declared a 60-day emergency period from January 21 amid continuing protests against it.
It is not immediately clear what impact the court’s ruling will have on
arrest warrants issued for protest leaders accused of violating the
state of emergency.
Protests against Thai government continue
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, at the helm since her Peau Thai
Party won a landslide election in 2011, has been struggling to hold onto
power since opponents in November began street protests to oust her.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, an associate professor of political science at
Chulalongkorn University, said the court ruling will further tighten the
noose, put the squeeze on the Yingluck government because the
government is facing protests that demand Yingluck’s resignation.
"If the government is unable to resort to some kind of imposition of the
law and order then they will look weaker and weaker," he said. "And it
will be in a straightjacket like a sitting duck and something else will
come along to either depose it or see Yingluck’s resignation.”
The People’s Democratic Reform Committee was on the march again
Wednesday, a day after a daylight clash with riot police along a major
Bangkok avenue left at least five people dead and dozens injured.
The PDRC and its allied “yellow shirt” mass movement have taken over
several major intersections and parks and surrounded some key ministries
in their bid to force Ms. Yingluck from office. She remained on as
caretaker prime minister since dissolving parliament in December.
Thailand's parliament cannot convene
Those forces allied against her - along with the opposition Democrat
Party - boycotted the subsequent election earlier this month. And they
prevented millions of people from voting, meaning not enough seats could
be filled to convene a new parliament to vote for a successor prime
minister. It is unclear when voting will be held in the approximately
eleven percent of the electoral districts that were affected.
PDRC leader Suthep Thaugsuban contends the electoral system is rigged in
favor of the Peau Thai because of significant spending of public funds
in the mostly poor Isaan region in the northeast, a stronghold for the
party. He has repeatedly rejected calls to negotiate a compromise to end
the stalemate.
Suthep, backed by the minority urban elite and those in the southern
part of the country, wants to appoint an unelected people’s council to
run the government for an indefinite period of time in order to cleanse a
corrupt system. He has repeatedly ridiculed Yingluck and challenged her
elder brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to return from
self-imposed exile to confront him. Thaksin faces prison for a
corruption conviction should he return.
Suthep, along with former prime minister Abhisit Vejijajiva, faces
indictment for murder charges stemming from the 2010 crackdown on
"redshirts," who form the core of support for the current government.
Suthep was deputy prime minister at the time and oversaw a special
security force, implicated in the deaths of more than 90 people during
street violence.
Support for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra May be Dropping
Until recently, Yingluck and Thaksin could depend on the critical
support of the "red shirts," who have mainly stayed on the sidelines in
the northern countryside during the recent upheaval.
But their enthusiasm for the billionaire brother and his sister is
waning after the government bungled a rice-pledging scheme. The majority
of farmers have not been paid for their crops.
Inter-bank lending this week to fund payments for the farmers has led to
a massive net withdrawal of deposits at branches of the Government
Savings Bank by concerned customers.
The bank’s president has offered his resignation to take responsibility
for lending five billion baht (about $154 million) to the Bank for
Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
Some farmers on Wednesday blocked access to the Commerce Ministry, demanding Ms. Yingluck’s resignation.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday ordered the prime
minister to answer charges February 27th of dereliction of duty. The
commission contends Ms. Yingluck was aware of corruption involving the
rice scheme but failed to stop it.
Shortly before the NACC made its announcement, the prime minister
appeared on television to defend the scheme, apologizing to farmers. She
said they “are being taken hostage in an unfortunate episode by
anti-government groups whose campaign makes it impossible” for the
rice-pledging to run efficiently.
Many analysts believe her days in office are numbered.
“Staying in office we will see a prolonged crisis and confrontation in
the streets," said Professor Thitinan. "We can see now that Bangkok is
completely disrupted in terms of commute and transportation. It’s
causing a lot of disruption in peoples’ ordinary lives. So this
situation is untenable.”
Protesters keep pressure on prime minister
Anti-government protestors Wednesday gathered outside a defense ministry
building in Bangkok where the embattled prime minister has moved her
office.
Suthep, speaking at the location, vowed that Ms. Yingluck could no longer use the premises “as her hiding place and her office.”
His supporters will not stop, he vowed, “wherever she sleeps, we will go after her.”
Suthep speaks to demonstrators at length at protest sites scattered
throughout the capital nearly every day, frequently declaring the next
big rally is the “final” one to force out Ms. Yingluck.
In his latest public remarks he called for a boycott against companies
and products linked to Thaksin, whom he says is still trying to run the
country via telephones from Dubai.
Yingluck stays on the move
A military official said Yingluck and her Cabinet ministers did not show
up at the temporary office in avoid escalating tensions. At times,
recently, she has appeared to have run the government from an air force
base on the outskirts of the capital.
The powerful Thai military has yet to demonstrate any significant moves of intervening on behalf of either side.
Some nervous government officials have expressed concern the armed
forces, which have initiated 18 coups since the end of absolute monarchy
in 1932, will take action against Ms. Yingluck as it did against her
brother in 2006.
The king stays neutral
The nation’s frail 86-year-old King has also not intervened as he has
done on several past occasions when the country has been paralyzed by
political crises. Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as Rama IX, is the
world’s longest serving current head of state and revered as a near
deity in the country.
On his birthday, December 5th, 2013, in his most recent public
utterance, the King, struggling to get through the short address,
appealed for unity “for the sake of the public, for stability and
security for our nation of Thailand.”
Some Thai analysts have hinted the current turmoil is part of a
behind-the-curtain struggle among fractious elements of the royal
family, the military and political power brokers to prepare for the era
beyond Rama IX. However, open discussion of this in Thailand is muted
because of strict lese majeste laws.
Resource:http://www.voacambodia.com