Brink of anarchy
Written by changthai11 on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
Brink of anarchy
By Post Reporters
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat rejected calls for his resignation and a House dissolution in the wake of violent clashes between police and supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh has already quit.
Fearing more violence, PAD leading member Samran Rodpetch urged demonstrators gathered at parliament to return to Government House and nearby, including the Royal Plaza, as night fell.
The PAD has occupied Government House since Aug 26.
The anti-government group was also worried by the decision by the armed forces to send troops to safeguard certain key places after a request by police.
Army spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkumnerd said six companies of the army, and two each from the navy and air force, were being used for the mission.
About 30 further companies were on standby in case of emergency, he added.
“The army is concerned about the incident. Demonstrators who did not carry weapons did not deserve to be harmed,” Col Sansern said.
But despite the violent confrontation, army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda said soldiers would not interfere.
“I can confirm that the army remains strictly neutral,” he said.
Her Majesty the Queen was also concerned about the bloodshed and ordered doctors and nurses to do their best to help the victims.
The chaos yesterday forced Mr Somchai and some cabinet members to use the Supreme Command as their operations centre.
It was there that Mr Somchai announced that he would neither resign nor dissolve the House.
“As long as I am still on duty, I will not delay my work. I will try my best to carry out my duty,” he said in response to calls, led by the PAD and academics, for him to step down.
“I will make a decision [on whether to resign or dissolve the House] at an appropriate time,” he added.
But Mr Somchai ruled out for the moment an emergency decree to hand control of the situation to the military.
The duty of maintaining security remains with the police, he added.
An army source said the army chief strongly disagreed with the emergency decree proposed in an urgent cabinet meeting at Don Mueang airport.
The meeting was called by the prime minister after demonstrators gathered at parliament to block the government from making its policy statement.
According to the source, Gen Anupong said the police should be in charge of keeping the situation under control.
“Gen Anupong is concerned that this could be a plot by certain people who want to draw the military into the situation to stage a coup,” the source said.
Mr Somchai defended the police actions in breaking up the PAD rally because they had received information that certain people planned to break into parliament .
Despite insisting on staying in power, Mr Somchai’s cabinet faced a problem with Gen Chavalit announcing his resignation after police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Gen Chavalit, who did not attend the House meeting yesterday, tendered his letter of resignation to the prime minister through his aide.
In his resignation letter, Gen Chavalit, who is in charge of national security, explained he would step down because the plan to clear the way for parliament to convene yesterday was a failure.
He said he had impressed upon police the importance of carrying out their operations without inflicting any harm upon the protesters, but police failed to implement his instructions.
“I consider that I am partly to blame for the damage. I have decided to accept responsibility by resigning as deputy prime minister,” Gen Chavalit wrote.
Bangkok Post
