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Thailand: election commission urges poll delay after violent clashes Thailand: election commission urges poll delay after violent clashes
(about 9 hours later)
Thailand's election commission has urged the government to delay polls scheduled for 2 February. Thailand’s election commission has called for upcoming polls to be delayed as street battles between security forces and protesters seeking to disrupt the ballot left one police officer dead and injured nearly 100 people.
The announcement on Thursday followed seven hours of violent protests outside a sports stadium being used by candidates to draw lots for their position on polling papers for the vote. The beleaguered government quickly rejected the call. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra wants the 2 February polls to take place as scheduled, believing she will win and renew her mandate. The renewed street violence has heaped pressure on the Thai leader to take a tougher line against protesters attempting to force her from office, raising the likelihood of army intervention.
The call by the commission will add to the political uncertainty gripping the nation. Thursday’s violence concentrated outside a Bangkok sports stadium where election candidates were gathering to draw lots for their positions on ballots. Protesters threw rocks and attempted to break into the building to halt the process, while police fired teargas and rubber bullets. Police said protesters retaliated with live fire, which hit one police officer who was airlifted from the scene but died of his wounds in hospital.
In a statement, the commission said it was urging the government to consider "postponing the elections", citing the lack of "peace" between the government and protesters. Election commissioners were forced to evacuate the stadium by helicopter to escape the clashes - some of the sharpest since a long-running dispute between bitterly divided political factions flared two months ago, pitching Thailand into fresh turmoil.
The protesters fought running battles with police in the Thai capital on Thursday, as the country's festering political crisis again flared into violence. The protest movement regards the Yingluck administration as corrupt, illegitimate and a proxy for her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a military coup in 2006. Government opposition groups demand that elections be delayed until Yingluck leaves office and reforms are implemented.
Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets towards demonstrators trying to force their way into the stadium. The election commission issued a statement urging the government to consider postponing the elections, citing the dire threat to security they would pose. Commission head Somchai Srisutthiyakorn denied the body was “involving itself in politics” by requesting a delay in the polls. “We have good intentions and want to see peace in this country,” he told reporters.
The demonstrators, some armed with slingshots, threw rocks and attempted to break through police lines. Inside the stadium, candidates for at least 27 parties took part in the lot-drawing process, which apparently went on unaffected despite the turmoil outside the gates. Nonetheless, Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana said the government was unable to change the election date.
Three officers were injured, said police Colonel Anucha Romyanan. He urged the demonstrators to assemble peacefully and said "attempts are being made to escalate the political situation by causing violence". “February 2 2014, was set as the election date in the royal decree dissolving parliament, and there is nothing within the constitution or the law that gives the government the authority to change this date,” he said. He reiterated that the government was willing to discuss reforms with protesters, but insisted elections must take place as scheduled.
It was unclear how many protesters were hurt in the clashes, which were contained to the area around the stadium. It was the first violent incident in nearly two weeks of daily protests on the streets of Bangkok. According to the constitution, elections must be held 45 to 60 days from the date that parliament is dissolved.
The protesters have been demanding since mid-October that prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down, and street unrest has occasionally broken out. They oppose the polls scheduled for 2 February – which the main opposition is boycotting – because Yingluck is seen as sure to win them. Waves of anti-government protests began in late October, but Thursday’s violence was the first in nearly two weeks of calm.
Police have largely shown restraint and have made no move to arrest the protest ringleader, Suthep Thaugsuban, who is demanding the country be led by an unelected council until reforms can be implemented. At least 96 people were injured from both sides as protesters armed with sling shots and wearing gas masks fought with police.
Thailand has been wracked by political conflict since Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled by a 2006 military coup. The protesters accuse Yingluck of being a proxy for Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields influence in the country. Protesters stormed a government building, vandalised cars and blocked a major road leading to the smaller of Bangkok’s two airports.
On Wednesday, Yingluck announced a proposal for a national reform council to come up with a compromise to the crisis, but it was rejected by the protesters. They now plan more civil disobedience and street protests in a bid to provoke such chaos that Yingluck will be forced to resign as caretaker. Police have made no move to arrest the protest movement’s ringleader, Suthep Thaugsuban, who is demanding the country be led by an unelected council until reforms can be implemented. The authorities have chosen to tread carefully, believing that any crackdown would provoke greater violence and chaos providing the military - which has staged 11 successful coups in the past - a pretext to intervene again.
In a speech to supporters on Thursday night, Suthep said he regretted the violence but denied that the protesters were responsible, instead blaming infiltrators or supporters of Yingluck. He vowed that protesters would succeed in toppling the government.
Thailand has been wracked by political conflict since Thaksin was deposed seven years ago. The former prime minister now lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction, but continues to wield influence in the country.
Thaksin or his allies have won every election since 2001 , carried by strong support in the north and north-east of the country. His supporters say he is disliked by Bangkok’s elite because he has shifted power away from the traditional ruling class, which has strong links to the popular royal family.
On Wednesday, Yingluck proposed a national reform council todevise a compromise, but the suggestion was rejected by protesters. The country’s main opposition party, which is allied with the protest movement, has announced it will boycott the elections.
Yingluck led the country for two years relatively smoothly. But in October, her government tried to introduce an amnesty law that would have allowed Thaksin to return to the country as a free man, prompting the latest round of unrest.
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