Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat rejected pressure to resign yesterday as thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in protest at last week’s deadly street clashes.
Police hung back as some 5,000 supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) marched down a busy Bangkok street carrying pictures of Somchai emblazoned with the word “murderer.”
Two people were killed and nearly 500 injured on Oct. 7 when police fired tear gas to prevent thousands of PAD supporters from blocking parliament, prompting some protesters to fight back.
PHOTO: EPA
Thailand’s powerful army chief had hinted on Thursday that the prime minister should resign over the clashes, prompting rumors that Somchai may heed his advice and dissolve parliament.
But despite calling an urgent meeting of his coalition partners, Somchai said he would stay on for the sake of the country.
“The government cannot abandon its duty as we still have three key functions coming up,” he said, referring to two royal events and a regional summit to be held before the end of the year. “Whether I resign or do not resign will depend on national interest.”
At the downtown rally, PAD supporters handed out books and CDs with photos and accounts of last week’s violence.
“The truth will show why the government has no legitimacy to run the country,” Somsak Kosaisuk, a PAD leader, told the crowd, many wearing black to mourn the dead supporters or yellow out of allegiance to the king.
“The government thinks that people are their enemy and used the police to kill people on Oct. 7,” Somsak said.
The color booklets showed graphic images of protesters whose limbs were blown off in the clashes — injuries blamed by a forensic expert on dangerous Chinese-made tear gas canisters.
The front page of the PAD leaflet showed a man clutching the bloodied stump of his leg, allegedly after it was blown off by police.
“We have brought pieces of cloth, water bottles and masks in case the police use tear gas again,” 42-year-old PAD supporter Dusadee Siriwanlop said.
The PAD launched its campaign in May, claiming that the ruling People Power Party elected in December was a puppet of ousted and exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom it accuses of corruption and nepotism.
The crowd — which police estimated at 5,000 — seemed largely cheerful yesterday, sheltering from the sun under a sea of umbrellas.
The rally ended without incident at about 1pm after the protesters marched to the main shopping district and dispersed.
Yesterday’s protests came a day after army chief General Anupong Paojinda appeared on television flanked by the heads of the air force, navy and police saying that if he were Somchai, he would resign.
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