Thailand lifting state of emergency
Print Edition
THAILAND is lifting a state of emergency in Bangkok, taking a step to restore some confidence as anti-government protests subside, though the crisis has entered a new phase with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra besieged by legal challenges.
The protesters, mainly from Bangkok and the south, have been trying since November to oust Yingluck and rid the country of the influence of her brother, self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was toppled by the army in 2006.
The government imposed a state of emergency two months ago, but largely resisted taking heavy-handed action, though 23 people have been killed during the unrest, most in shootings and grenade blasts.
The protests have waned in recent weeks and are now mostly confined to Lumpini Park in Bangkok’s central business district and a few other sites.
But the threat of further violence remains real, especially after changes at the top of the pro-Thaksin “red shirt” movement at the weekend, with a new, more militant leader promising “to fight tooth and nail” to defend Yingluck.
The emergency will be lifted today after a decision taken at a cabinet meeting held yesterday in Nakhon Pathom province, 80 kilometers from Bangkok.
Yingluck arrived for the meeting in a wheelchair after slipping as she stepped out of a car on Saturday in the northern city of Chiang Mai, her stronghold.
“The cabinet lifted the state of emergency to instill more confidence in the private sector and tourist industry,” she told reporters.
In its place, the government will use the Internal Security Act, a less harsh law that still allows the authorities to impose curfews, operate security checkpoints and restrict the movement of protesters.
The government set the 60-day emergency from January 22 to help contain protests in the run-up to a general election on February 2, but most of its measures were barely used, especially after a court ruled that some had been imposed illegally.
The election was disrupted by protesters in almost 70 of the 375 constituencies, leaving the House of Representatives without a quorum to elect a new prime minister.
The Constitutional Court has accepted a petition to consider annulling the election, which could further delay the formation of a government.
Yingluck, whose Puea Thai Party had been expected to win the vote, heads a caretaker administration with limited powers.
She faces a slew of court cases, including a charge of dereliction of duty over a rice subsidy scheme that owes money to hundreds of thousands of farmers.
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