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Members of Thai Opposition Party Quit Parliament Members of Thai Opposition Party Quit Parliament
(about 2 hours later)
BANGKOK — The Democrat Party, Thailand’s oldest and the main force behind the country’s political opposition, announced Sunday that its members would resign from Parliament and join antigovernment street demonstrations, deepening the political turmoil that has left five people dead and hundreds injured over the past two weeks. BANGKOK — Facing volatile street protests and the mass resignation from Parliament of the main opposition party, Thailand’s prime minister on Monday called for fresh elections, the latest in a series of attempts to defuse anger against her political party and her powerful family.
The Democrats have been deeply frustrated by their inability to win elections against the powerful political machine backed by the billionaire tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who now lives in exile. The party’s decision to withdraw from Parliament is the latest sign of the skepticism of Thailand’s democratic process that is spreading among the opposition and many members of the Thai elite. “Let the people decide the direction of the country and who the governing majority will be,” the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, said in a televised statement on Monday morning.
“We cannot beat them,” said Theptai Seanapong, one of the members of Parliament who resigned Sunday. “It doesn’t matter if we raise our hands and feet in parliamentary votes, we will never win.” The news came as thousands of anti-government protesters, who have vowed to overthrow the government and rid the country of the influence of Ms. Yingluck’s family,  marched toward the prime minister’s office.
The call for elections, which were not due until 2015, did not satisfy many of the protest leaders who reacted with scorn minutes after the announcement. “This is not our objective,” Anchalee Paireerak, a protest leader, said of elections. “We will continue marching.”
Protests in Bangkok have left five people dead and hundreds injured over the past two weeks. Ms. Anchalee and other protest leaders have called for a system that would replace the country’s electoral democracy — a vaguely defined “people’s council” that has been widely derided by civic leaders and scholars as idealistic, unworkable and retrograde.
The opposition in Thailand has been deeply frustrated by its inability to win elections against the powerful political machine backed by the billionaire tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who now lives in exile. Ms. Yingluck is Mr. Thaksin’s sister.
On Sunday, the Democrat Party, Thailand’s oldest and the main force behind the country’s political opposition, announced that its members would resign from Parliament and join anti-government street demonstrations. “We cannot beat them,” said Theptai Seanapong, one of the members of Parliament who resigned on Sunday. “It doesn’t matter if we raise our hands and feet in parliamentary votes, we will never win.”
Sathit Wongnongtoey, one of the protest leaders and a former member of Parliament for the Democrat Party, said Monday that he feared there would be “cheating” in the election if the government carried on as caretakers, as is stipulated in the constitution. “And they will return to power,” Mr. Sathit said. “We cannot allow that to happen.”
The mistrust of electoral politics has echoes across the region — in Malaysia, where the governing party has heavily gerrymandered the electoral map, and in Cambodia, where the authoritarian prime minister, Hun Sen, has used the machinery of the state and military to bolster his power. The Cambodian opposition continues to boycott Parliament over allegations of widespread electoral fraud in July elections.The mistrust of electoral politics has echoes across the region — in Malaysia, where the governing party has heavily gerrymandered the electoral map, and in Cambodia, where the authoritarian prime minister, Hun Sen, has used the machinery of the state and military to bolster his power. The Cambodian opposition continues to boycott Parliament over allegations of widespread electoral fraud in July elections.
One major difference in Thailand is that there is little dispute that Mr. Thaksin’s party has won the hearts of the majority of voters. By tailoring its policies to voters in the provinces, especially in northern Thailand, scholars say, the governing Pheu Thai Party has convincingly won every election since 2001. One major difference in Thailand, however, is that there is little dispute that Mr. Thaksin’s party has won the hearts of the majority of voters. By tailoring its policies to voters in the provinces, especially in northern Thailand, scholars say, the governing Pheu Thai Party has convincingly won every election since 2001.
The move by the Democrat Party to abandon the House of Representatives leaves more than 340 seats still occupied, above the threshold of 250 members needed to conduct votes. The party said 152 Democrats would resign. There is very little chance that measures backed by the government will be blocked because the governing coalition controls about 300 of the 500 seats in the House. Though opposition has repeatedly said that Mr. Thaksin has maintained his power through vote buying, two of Thailand’s leading political researchers wrote a widely circulated article last week saying the allegation was “dangerous nonsense” because it was policies, not vote buying, that have cemented the loyalty of many voters in the provinces toward Mr. Thaksin.
But the Democrat Party will now inject its resources and prestige into the volatile street protests, which are set to continue after a call for a mass gathering on Monday with the aim of taking over the prime minister’s office. As Thailand’s peak tourism season gets underway, embassies have advised their citizens to avoid the protest areas.
Thai news media reported on Sunday that protesters were arriving in the capital from the provinces, especially southern Thailand, the stronghold of the Democrat Party. The Democrat Party has many grievances with Mr. Thaksin’s party, including what it considers the railroading of some spending bills, voting procedures in Parliament that a court has called illegal and the furtive passage of important laws in the early hours of the morning. Yet for a party that has long cultivated a genteel and intellectual image and advocated resolving differences inside Parliament, the decision to take to the streets was contentious within its own ranks. A number of key members were not present at the meeting on Sunday. Yet the party’s move has parallels — and worrying similarities, some observers believe — to a move the party made seven years ago. Amid a campaign of street protests against Mr. Thaksin, then the prime minister, the Democrat Party boycotted elections in April 2006. Five months later, Mr. Thaksin was deposed in a military coup.
As Thailand’s peak tourism season gets underway, embassies have advised their citizens to avoid the protest areas, and Bangkok’s main airport has alerted travelers that they should leave for the airport at least four hours before their flights are scheduled to depart. During the current round of demonstrations, protest leaders have courted the military, and many protesters have openly called for another coup. But until now, the army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, has appeared wary of intervening in the crisis. A Thai newspaper, Tthe Post Today, reported on Sunday that General Prayuth had said a coup would not solve the country’s problems. “We must be patient and seek a peaceful solution,” the paper quoted him as saying.
The Democrat Party has many grievances with Mr. Thaksin’s party, including what it considers the railroading of some spending bills, voting procedures in Parliament that a court has called illegal and the furtive passage of important laws in the early hours of the morning. The protesters’ hope for royal intervention has also not had results.King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has intervened in political standoffs in the past but is now ailing, did not specifically address the protests in a speech given on his 86th birthday on Thursday.
But for a party that has long cultivated a genteel and intellectual image and advocated resolving differences inside Parliament, the decision to take to the streets was contentious within its own ranks. A number of key members of the party were not present at the meeting on Sunday. Mr. Thaksin also appears to be going out of his way to patch up any perceived differences with the royal family. After several weeks of public silence, he posted a comment on his Facebook page on Saturday denying claims that he had ever been disloyal to the family.
Yet the party’s move has parallels — and worrying similarities, some observers believe — to a move the party made seven years ago.
Amid a campaign of street protests against Mr. Thaksin, then the prime minister, the Democrat Party boycotted elections in April 2006. Five months later, Mr. Thaksin was deposed in a military coup.
During the current round of demonstrations, protest leaders have courted the military, and many protesters have openly called for another coup. But until now, the army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, has appeared wary of intervening in the crisis.
A Thai newspaper, The Post Today, reported Sunday that General Prayuth had said a coup would not solve the country’s problems.
“We must be patient and seek a peaceful solution,” the paper quoted him as saying.
The protesters’ hope for royal intervention has also not had results.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has intervened in political standoffs in the past but is now ailing, did not specifically address the protests in a speech given on his 86th birthday on Thursday.
Mr. Thaksin also appears to be going out of his way to patch up any perceived differences with the royal family. After several weeks of public silence, he posted a comment on his Facebook page on Saturday denying claims that he had ever been disloyal to the royal family.
“I would like to insist here that I’ve never even thought to reproach any member of the royal family because I received their royal graces all along,” he said.“I would like to insist here that I’ve never even thought to reproach any member of the royal family because I received their royal graces all along,” he said.
Thailand’s prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who is Mr. Thaksin’s sister, said Sunday that she would consider calling elections, a move that other members of her government had rejected in recent days. Ms. Yingluck has earned plaudits from foreign governments for her administration’s handling of the crisis in the face of aggressive moves by the protesters, who have taken over the Finance Ministry, occupied a large government complex on the outskirts of the city and temporarily cut power to a number of state-owned buildings, including the police headquarters.
Until now, protest leaders have spurned the notion of elections, and many opposition leaders freely admit that they cannot overcome the electoral power of Mr. Thaksin’s party. The police say that the five deaths that occurred were caused by shootings among competing groups of protesters. At the height of the violent confrontations between protesters and the riot police last week, the European Union said the authorities’ actions had been “restrained and proportionate.”
Instead, the protest leaders are calling for a system that would replace the country’s electoral democracy with a vaguely defined “people’s council,” a plan that has been widely derided by civic leaders and scholars as idealistic, unworkable and retrograde.
Ms. Yingluck said Sunday that the country would have to hold a referendum for any such plan to be considered.
Her administration has earned plaudits from foreign governments for its handling of the crisis in the face of aggressive moves by the protesters, who have taken over the Finance Ministry, occupied a large government complex on the outskirts of the city and temporarily cut power to a number of state-owned buildings, including the police headquarters.
The police say that the five deaths that occurred were caused by shootings among competing groups of protesters.
At the height of the violent confrontations between protesters and the riot police last week, the European Union said the authorities’ actions had been “restrained and proportionate.”

Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.

Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.