Bangkok street violence turns deadly
Brotherhood members face terrorism charges
Bangkok – Thailand’s election commission yesterday called for upcoming polls to be delayed as street battles between security forces and protesters seeking to disrupt the ballot killed a police officer and injured nearly 100 people, dealing fresh blows to the beleaguered government.
The government quickly rejected the call. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra wants the February 2nd polls to take place as scheduled, believing she would win handily and renew her mandate.
The street violence adds to pressure on her to take a tougher line against the protesters, who are trying to force her from office, risking more chaos and possible intervention by the army.
The hours-long unrest took place outside a Bangkok sports stadium where election candidates were gathering to draw lots for their positions on ballots.
Protesters threw rocks as they tried to break into the building to halt the process, while police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Police said protesters fired live bullets, one of which killed the officer.
Four election commissioners left the stadium by helicopter to escape the violence, some of the sharpest since a long-running dispute between Thailand’s bitterly divided political factions flared anew two months ago, pitching the country into fresh turmoil.
The protest movement regards the Yingluck administration as corrupt, illegitimate and a proxy for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a 2006 military coup. It is demanding that the elections be delayed until Yingluck leaves office and reforms are implemented.
The election commission said in a statement that it was urging the government to consider postponing the elections, citing the security situation.
Commission head Somchai Srisutthiyakorn denied the body was ‘‘involving itself in politics’’ by urging a delay in the polls.
Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana said the government was unable to change the date of the polls.
The anti-government protests began in late October, but yesterday’s violence was the first in nearly two weeks.
At least 96 people were injured from both sides as protesters armed with sling shots and wearing gas masks fought with police.
Later in the day, protesters stormed a government building, vandalised cars and blocked a major road leading to the smaller of Bangkok’s two airports.
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.
In a speech to supporters last night, Suthep said he regretted the violence, but denied that the protesters were responsible, instead blaming infiltrators or supporters of Yingluck. He vowed that the 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 still wields influence in the country.
Thaksin or his allies have won every election since 2001 thanks to strong support in the north and northeast 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 royal family.
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.
The country’s main opposition party, which is allied with the protesters, has announced it is boycotting the elections. Cairo – Egyptian prosecutors have ordered at least 18 Muslim Brotherhood members, including an exlawmaker, held on accusations of belonging to a terrorist group, a day after the government blacklisted the movement, state media reports.
They include the son of a deputy leader of deposed president Mohamed Morsi’s movement, which the government declared a terrorist organisation yesterday, the official Mena news agency said today.
Seven were detained for a renewable two-week period in the city of Alexandria and 11 in the Nile Delta town of Zagazig.
Police also arrested 16 suspected Muslim Brotherhood members for passing out leaflets in support of the group and ‘‘inciting to violence,’’ the agency reported.
The Brotherhood’s designation as a terrorist group means anyone taking part in these rallies could be sentenced to five years in prison, the interior ministry said.
Possessing their literature, or supporting them ‘‘verbally or in writing,’’ is punishable by up to five years in prison, a ministry statement said.
The Brotherhood still organises almost daily protests in Cairo and other cities demanding Morsi’s return almost six months after the military overthrew him.
More than 1000 people have been killed in street clashes and thousands imprisoned in a police crackdown on the movement.