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Ousted PM Thaksin retakes center stage
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-05 10:52 BANGKOK, Thailand -- Nearly two years after a military coup ousted the most dynamic and divisive leader in Thailand's recent history, the battle for the nation's future has resumed with a focus on that same figure: toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thousands of demonstrators are back on the streets, coup rumors sweep the country, the stock market has plunged and a Cabinet minister accused of insulting the monarchy has been forced to resign. Although a coup is not foreseen, analysts warn the deep divisions which have again appeared may impede Thailand's rocky road to full-fledged democracy, hobble the economy and paralyze a political system that needs to generate long-postponed reforms. Only four months after a coalition government led by Thaksin's allies took power, the battle lines are clearly drawn again. On one side are Thaksin opponents among the Bangkok elite, assorted pro-democracy and royalist groups and elements of the military. The other includes the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and poor rural and urban masses. Thaksin retains great popularity among the have-nots for being the first prime minister in modern Thai history to truly reach down to the grass-roots level and for introducing a slew of social welfare plans, including virtually free medical care. The street demonstrations, beginning nearly two weeks ago, are led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which spearheaded the protests that preceded the coup against Thaksin in September 2006. "It's the same ball game. Their target is Thaksin and the residue of his power," said Thitinan Pongsidhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "The (PAD) has returned to lead a conservative resistance against a legacy of Thaksin's populist agenda." |
