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Police fire tear gas against crowd
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-07 10:43 BANGKOK, Thailand -- Police fired tear gas Tuesday at several thousand demonstrators attempting to block access by lawmakers to the Parliament building in the Thai capital.
Reporters at the scene Tuesday saw at least one person injured by the gas. Sounds of gunfire were also heard but senior police officials said that only tear gas was being used against the crowd. "I don't think there are many injuries," police Maj. Gen. Viboon Bangthamai said. The protests are part of an effort by the People's Alliance for Democracy to bring down the government, which it says is merely a proxy for ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in 2006 by military leaders who accused him of corruption and who now resides in exile. The alliance, which is also occupying the prime minister's residence, marshaled the protesters around streets leading to the Parliament during the night. Police moved in and early morning fired 40 to 50 canisters of tear gas against more than 4,000 of the demonstrators. Lawmakers were due to enter Parliament for a session later Tuesday. The government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, which was sworn in on Sept. 25, cannot legally carry out its executive duties until it has delivered its policy statement. Thailand has been wracked in recent months by political turmoil that has all but paralyzed the government. The alliance claims Thailand's rural majority -- who gave landslide election victories to the current government -- is too poorly educated to responsibly choose their representatives and says they are susceptible to vote buying. The protest group wants the country to abandon the system of one-man, one-vote, and instead have a mixed system in which some representatives are chosen by certain professions and social groups. They have not explained how exactly such a system would work or what would make it less susceptible to manipulation. The protesters' stated intention was to keep Cabinet ministers from entering the parliament building. "To prohibit representatives from entering for a meeting is not right," Somchai told reporters Monday night. He said it was the duty of the police to allow the meeting to convene: "I don't have to give an order." On Sunday, police arrested Chamlong Srimuang, a key protest leader and one-time Bangkok mayor on charges of insurrection and other crimes. Another key figure, Chaiwat Sinsuwongse, was arrested Friday on the same charges. The protest alliance originally took over the grounds of Government House with the announced intention of staying until then Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej stepped down. It accused Samak of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown by a September 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Samak was dismissed from office on Sept. 9 by a court decision that found him guilty on a conflict of interest charge. But the protest alliance then said his successor, Somchai -- a brother-in-law of Thaksin -- was also his pawn. |
