Thai protesters' 'final fight'
May 9, 2014
Four people were reported injured on Friday when protesters attempted to push down barriers around the government's Center for Administration of Peace and Order.
Police fired tear gas canisters and water cannon at the demonstrators, many of whom subsequently withdrew.
Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people marched through the Thai capital protesting that the removal of ex-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was not enough. Yingluck was banned from politics on Wednesday by Thailand's Constitutional Court, after she as found guilty of abuse of power.
Traffic was slowed as they headed to Government House and surrounded several public television stations, urging them not to show "pro-government" broadcasts.
Opposition leader Suthep Thaugsuban on Friday demanded that the Supreme Court, the Senate speaker and the Election Commission should jointly work along with other state agencies to remove the current government, even setting an ultimatum.
"We want the change of government to be smooth. But if you cannot do it smoothly within three days, we the people will do it in our own way," said Suthep, a former member of parliament for the opposition Democrat party. He called Friday's rally a "final offensive."
Demand for delay
Leaders of the opposition movement have called for the installation of an interim appointed government that could oversee reforms ahead of new elections.
They are also keen to see an election planned for July 20 - which Yingluck's allies are widely expected to win - to be cancelled.
Before any poll, the opposition first wants changes that would curb the supposed influence of former prime minister and telecommunications billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother.
The Democrats, whose power base is in the more affluent south and around Bangkok, have lost every general election since 2001. They complain that the "majoritism" of Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party, which is particularly popular in the more rural north, has created a form of "parliamentary dictatorship."
The opposition demonstration comes ahead of a rival protest by pro-government "Red Shirts" - outraged at Yingluck's removal - set to take place in the suburbs of Bangkok on Saturday.
rc/ipj (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)