BANGKOK, Dec 11: Anti-government protesters in Thailand, ignoring the snap election called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, said she should be tried for treason and the whole of her influential family be hounded until they give up politics.
The protesters, a motley collection aligned with Bangkok’s royalist elite, want to eradicate the influence of Yingluck’s brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by the military in 2006 and has chosen to live in exile rather than serve a jail term for abuse of power.
Thaksin is widely seen as the power behind Yingluck’s government, sometimes holding meetings with the cabinet by webcam. He remains enormously popular in the countryside because of his and Yingluck’s pro-poor policies and any party he is associated with stands a good chance of winning the election.
After forcing the snap election on Monday and massing 160,000 people around Yingluck’s office, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban had given her 24 hours to step down. She is caretaker prime minister until the February 2 election.
After that deadline ran out on Tuesday night, Suthep, who holds no office and resigned as a lawmaker to lead the protest movement, said police should arrest her.
“I ask police to arrest Yingluck for treason because she did not meet our orders,” he told supporters still camping out at Government House.
Before the deadline had elapsed, he said: “If you don’t listen, we will escalate our protest until you and the rest of the Shinawatra family are unable to stand it any more.
“How long will you be able to stand it if people spit on your car every day?” he said. In previous speeches he has said the whole Shinawatra family should leave the country. (AGENCIES)
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