Thailand's
Yingluck Shinawatra talks of resignation to 'bring back peace'
PM
mentions dissolution of parliament to halt anti-government protests
in Bangkok that have led to at least four deaths
View
of demostrations from a drone
2
December, 2013
Thailand's
embattled prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has vowed to do whatever
it takes to "bring peace back to the Thai people" after
protests continued on Monday in the capital Bangkok, where at least
four people have been killed and 200 injured in a 10-day push to
overthrow the government.
Protest
leaders, however, stressed they would not negotiate and promised to
seize Bangkok's police headquarters, which they see as a proxy of
Yingluck's administration, and where fighting between protesters and
police took place all day.
The
man leading the demonstrations, Suthep Thaugsuban, 64, a former
opposition lawmaker, has issued Yingluck an ultimatum to "return
power to the people" by Tuesday. He and his Civil Movement for
Democracy (CMD) aim to overthrow the democratically elected
government and install a so-called "people's council"
manned by unelected representatives with the king as head of state.
The CMD believes Yingluck's administration to be a puppet of her
brother Thaksin, the former PM who was ousted in a 2006 military coup
and now lives in self-exile in Dubai and London.
Seemingly
contradicting an interview she gave to the BBC last week, in which
she said she would neither step down nor hold early elections,
Yingluck told a press conference that "the government is not
trying to cling to power".
"I
am not against either resignation or dissolution of parliament if
this solution will stop the protests," she added.
"If
there's anything I can do to bring peace back to the Thai people I am
happy to do it. The government is more than willing to have talks,
but I myself cannot see a way out of this problem that is within the
law and in the constitution."
Protesters
have said they are unwilling to negotiate and will only back down
once the "Thaksin regime" has been fully overthrown. In a
televised address on Monday night, Suthep vowed to fight as long as
need be, even alone, until Yingluck had been removed from office.
"They
can always come back to suck the blood of people, steal from people,
disrespect the constitution and make us their slaves," he said
in an apparent reference to the Shinawatra family.
While
protests have taken place throughout the week around Bangkok –
primarily in relation to a proposed amnesty bill that would have
paved the way for Thaksin's return from exile and squashed his
corruption conviction – the violence only really began on Saturday,
when pro-Thaksin redshirts fought with anti-government student
demonstrators near a sports stadium. At least four people have been
killed and over 200 injured since.
On
Monday, much of the violence centred around Government House, the
seat of the prime minister's offices, and police headquarters.
Protesters
threw rocks, bottles and homemade explosives at police in riot gear,
who retaliated with water cannons and rubber bullets, and faced a
standoff after protesters used rubbish trucks and bulldozers to try
to overrun barriers.
Doctors
at a Bangkok hospital confirmed on Monday that two patients had been
treated for gunshot wounds from live rounds, although it was not
clear who the gunmen were. Thai police insist they are only using
rubber bullets, and Yingluck's government has taken great pains to
use as little force against protestors as possible.
Although
Suthep has claimed that the military is on his side, Yingluck told
the nation that the military was acting neutrally and "wants to
see a peaceful way out".
"I
believe that no one wants to see a repeat of history, where we saw
people suffer and lose their lives," she said.
The
political violence is Thailand's worst since the 2010 demonstrations
that saw 2,000 injured and nearly 100 killed in a military crackdown.
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