Thailand may lift emergency decree, PM Samak says
08-SEP-2008 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Sep 8, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
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Thailand may lift an emergency decree amid government plans to hold a plebiscite on how to end the country's political standoff, in which demonstrators have occupied the prime minister's office for 10 days demanding that he quit.
Prime minister Samak Sundaravej said yesterday the decree was ineffective and he was speaking with "related'' agencies about ending the order, which covers the capital. "There is no need for the state of emergency because no one has complied with it,'' Samak told reporters. "I will consider revoking it.''
Samak declared the state of emergency on September 2 after deadly clashes between anti-government and rival protest groups in Bangkok. The political standoff has undermined Thai stocks, with the benchmark SET Index losing 5.6% last week, the biggest five-day decline since the period ended July 18.
"It's received to come to a head,'' Emmanuel Ng, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., said yesterday. "It could be Samak steps down, the other one is there's a call for snap elections, and the worst outcome is that protestors take to the street and there's violence,'' prompting military intervention.
Thailand's central bank has said that political risk has overtaken inflation as the biggest threat to the economy. Global funds pulled US$3.4 billion from Thailand's stock market this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Thailand's Cabinet agreed to hold a national vote on how to end the impasse after Samak repeatedly said he will not yield to the People's Alliance for Democracy's demands for him to quit. No date has been set for the vote, which may take months to organise.
'Too Much Time'
"We wouldn't support the referendum,'' Sirichoke Sopha, a Democrat lawmaker and spokesman for the shadow cabinet, said yesterday. "It would take too much time.''
Samak, whose People Power Party won last year's election with the support of poor, rural voters, says the same group of protesters seeking his ouster helped trigger a 2006 coup against former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, his party's patron.
More than 10,000 protesters from the People's Alliance of mostly middle-class residents of Bangkok have joined the occupation at government House and surrounding streets. Somsak Kosaisuk, a protest leader, said on September 3 that a referendum would be "a waste of taxpayer money.''
The People's Alliance is seeking a government that doesn't include allies of Thaksin, who fled to the UK on August 11 to avoid corruption charges. The group has called for a mostly appointed Parliament to take over from Samak's party.
State of Emergency
Samak at first pledged a "soft and gentle'' police response to the protests. He declared the state of emergency after a pro-government mob confronted the People's Alliance in a clash that left one person dead and 43 injured.
Still, the army hasn't enforced the decree, which bars the assembly of more than five people. Army Chief Anupong Paojinda has ruled out a military takeover.
"The country has been pushed to a point where the police and potentially the army will be criticised equally for their handling of a tremendously difficult situation,'' said Brian Dougherty, general manager, Hill Risk Consulting (Thailand) Ltd "They don't know how to deal with this situation, particularly when they are trying to do it in a non-violent way.''
Thai Foreign minister Tej Bunnag, an adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, submitted his resignation after the state of emergency was imposed. Losing Tej and his ties to the influential monarch may increase pressure on Samak to step down.
Bhumibol is head of state while the prime minister and parliament govern. Though his role is apolitical, the 80-year-old king is revered as a symbol of stability in the nation of 66 million people, many of whom hang his portrait in their homes.
A new election would likely lead to another victory for the People Power Party, which won 233 of 480 parliamentary seats last year. Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai won elections in 2001 and 2005.
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