Thailand protesters target army, even as PM rules out polls
Defiant Thai protesters on Friday stormed the army headquarters, asking the military to back their sixday-old campaign aimed at toppling Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra even as she ruled out early elections.
Over 1,500 protesters entered the compound and submitted a letter addressed to the army chief, asking military leaders to "take a stand" in Thailand's spiralling political crisis.
Ruling out a fresh poll, Yingluck told BBC she was not sure the protesters would be satisfied even if she called an election.
"I love this country. I devote myself to this country. I need only one thing for the country: we need to protect democracy," she said.
She said the situation in Thailand was "very sensitive" and repeated her call for negotiations to resolve the crisis. More protesters besieged ruling Pheu Thai party's headquarters as part of efforts to force the government to step down, shouting "Get out, get out". The demonstrators left both the places after few hours. Security was tightened around the party's headquarters.
For the past week, thousands of anti-government protesters have marched in Bangkok in a bid to unseat Yingluck, whom they ac- cuse of serving as a proxy for her fugitive brother and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra.
The demonstrations have raised fears of fresh political turmoil and instability in Thailand and pose the biggest threat to Yingluck's regime since she came to power in 2011.
On Thursday, Yingluck asked demonstrators to end the street protests, after surviving a no-confidence vote in Parliament. The no-confidence motion was filed by the opposition which alleges widespread corruption in the government. In a televised address, Yingluck said the protesters should negotiate with the government.
"The government doesn't want to enter into any political games because we believe it will cause the economy to deteriorate," she said.
But protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has rejected her appeal. Demonstrators have been surrounding and briefly occupying official buildings in an attempt to disrupt the government. On Monday, protesters in Bangkok stormed the Finance Ministry building and converted it into a command center.
An estimated 100,000 opposition supporters protested in Bangkok on Sunday, although the numbers appear to have dropped significantly during the week. The current round of protests started as a response to a governmentbacked amnesty bill that could have opened the door for Thaksin's return to Thailand.
The Thai senate rejected the bill on November 11, but opposition demonstrators have called since then for Yingluck's government to be replaced.
The country is facing its largest protests since 2010, when thousands of "redshirt" Thaksin supporters occupied key parts of the capital.