Thai government supporters rally in Bangkok to ‘protect democracy’
Print Edition
SUPPORTERS of Thailand’s beleaguered government gathered yesterday on the outskirts of Bangkok, saying they were determined to safeguard democracy as rival anti-government protesters pressed their campaign in the city.
The country’s politicians have been unable to forge a compromise over a nearly decadelong split between the royalist establishment and a populist former telecommunications tycoon, whose sister Yingluck Shinawatra was ousted as prime minister on Wednesday.
Her sacking by the Constitutional Court for nepotism followed six months of anti-government protests that have unnerved investors, scared away tourists and dented growth in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.
Yingluck’s supporters have derided her removal as a “judicial coup.” Her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
“This is a dictatorship that masquerades as a democracy,” Sombat Thammasuk, a “red shirt” supporter of Thaksin and Yingluck, said at the rally.
A security official said about 50,000 people had joined the rally and more were expected.
“Although it’s hot here, our anger is hotter. We are boiling with anger,” Sombat said.
A day after Yingluck was ousted she was indicted by an anti-corruption agency for negligence over a rice subsidy scheme that ran up huge losses. The upper house Senate is expected to impeach her for that, which would result in a five-year ban from politics.
But Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party still runs a caretaker government and is hoping to organize a July 20 election.
Anti-government protesters want the government out, the election postponed and reforms to end Thaksin’s influence.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban called his supporters out onto Bangkok’s streets on Friday for what he said was a final push to oust the government.
“The caretaker government is unlawful, which means at this stage, Thailand has no real government,” Suthep told reporters at the rally.
He called on the upper house Senate, the judiciary and Election Commission to appoint a neutral prime minister.
But Jatuporn Prompan, leader of the “red shirt” supporters, told reporters at the pro-government rally that Suthep’s proposal was “impossible.”
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