Pressure Grows on Thai PM to Resign
By Sutin Wannabovorn
Associated Press Writer
August 30, 2008
CBNNews.com - BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's prime minister vowed Saturday that he would not resign even as pressure mounted with anti-government protesters occupying his headquarters for a fifth day Saturday and disrupting rail and air service.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's adamant refusal to step down came ahead of a meeting with Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, south of the capital Bangkok. Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role but has repeatedly brought calm in times of turbulence during his 60 years on the throne.
Samak said he had requested the meeting to brief the monarch on the political situation.
"I, the prime minister, have come to office in the righteous way and I won't resign," Samak said during a televised ceremony for the royal family. "I will not back down. I will rule this country and will lead it through all of the problems."
Thousands of protesters remained camped out at the prime minister's official compound, known as Government House, in Bangkok where leaders called for 1 million people to join their ranks to demand an end to Samak's seven-month tenure. The crowd size has ranged from 2,000 to about 30,000.
"The protest has already developed into a people's revolution," protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul told The Associated Press. "I do believe that Samak is going to resign."
Saying that Western-style democracy has allowed corruption to flourish, the protest group wants a new government with a parliament in which most of the lawmakers are appointed and only 30 percent elected.
Samak called an emergency session of parliament Sunday so that both houses can debate the crisis and try to resolve it through political means, said Surachai Phuprasert, a top aide to Samak.
International airports in the southern beach towns of Phuket and Krabi were closed for a second day Saturday as protesters blockaded passengers from entering, authorities said. Hat Yai airport, also in the south, reopened Saturday.
Bangkok's two airports were not effected by the strikes, the airport authority said.
Hundreds of railway workers continued their work stoppage by taking emergency sick leave, forcing the cancellation of more than 70 trains throughout the country, said State Railways of Thailand spokesman Pairat Rojcharoen-ngarm.
The country's influential army commander, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, rejected a request by Samak on Friday to declare a state of emergency, a top army official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information. Anupong has vowed that the army will not intervene and has called for resolving the crisis by political means.
The Chart Thai Party, a key member of Samak's six-party ruling coalition, said it was ready to suggest that Samak step down.
"The coalition partners have the impression that the situation is deteriorating and we are thinking of telling the prime minister to decide on the future of the government," said Somsak Prisana-anantakul, deputy leader of Chart Thai.
The People's Alliance for Democracy, the protest organizer, accuses Samak's government of serving as a proxy for ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 bloodless coup and banned from public office until 2012. Thaksin, who fled to self-imposed exile in Britain, faces an array of corruption charges.
Samak led Thaksin's political allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback on the strength of his continued popularity with Thailand's rural majority.
Anti-government protests started in May but gained momentum Tuesday when protesters occupied the Government House compound. The unrest escalated Friday when protesters clashed with police.
After police forced their way into the Government House compound to deliver a court eviction order, the alliance fought police in running street battles, charging, punching and hitting officers with sticks. They withdrew to display minor injuries they got when police fought back.
Claiming "police brutality," alliance members later laid siege to city police headquarters, demanding the surrender of officers they accused of violence. As they pressed against the gates, police fired tear gas to disperse them.
"The situation is out of control," police spokesman Surapol Tuantong said Friday.
Samak has insisted the government would not employ force, but rather "soft and gentle" methods to oust the protesters, whom he accused of trying to spark a confrontation with authorities that would lead to violence.
"They want bloodshed in the country. They want the military to come out and do the coup again," he said.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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