BANGKOK - THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters marched through the streets of Bangkok earlier on Friday calling for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's resignation.
Thai Pm to call snap polls?
BANGKOK - THAI Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat called an unscheduled meeting of his coalition partners on Friday amid intensifying speculation he would call a snap election after the head of the army said he should step down.
Despite his comments, made in a live television interview on Thursday alongside the heads of the Navy, Air Force and police, army chief Aupong Paochinda insisted he was not about to launch a coup only two years after the removal of Thaksin Shinawatra.
The protest came amid a deepening political crisis that has nearly paralysed the government.
Mr Somchai abruptly cancelled his planned meetings on Friday and instead scheduled talks with his coalition partners, government spokesman Nattawut Sai-gua said, declining to comment further. The decision spurred speculation Mr Somchai might resign or dissolve Parliament.
Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat scotched speculation of his immediate resignation on Friday, saying he intended to host a regional summit in Bangkok in December.
'The government has a duty to carry on the policies and tasks that are coming up,' he told a news conference. He was ready to call an election only after changes to the constitution.
Earlier, the influential army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, strongly hinted on Thursday that Mr Somchai should step down because of the violent confrontation between police and protesters outside Parliament last week that killed one demonstrator and injured more than 400 other people, mostly protesters. Dozens of policemen also were hurt.
Some demonstrators at that protest carried guns, iron rods, slingshots and rocks, and rioters burned parked cars, trucks and vans.
'If I were the prime minister and a violent dispersal of protesters happened (under my watch) and caused loss of lives and resulted in injuries ... I would definitely resign,' Gen Anupong said in a TV interview, flanked by the commanders of the country's other armed services.
Gen Anupong repeated his vow not to stage a coup.
The demonstrators on Friday blocked the streets of a busy business district in the capital and handed out videos and photos documenting their Oct 7 clash with police.
Some held up posters with photos of Mr Somchai and the police chief with the word 'murderer' written beneath them.
'(Somchai) ordered police to kill protesters. Thais should come out on the street to oust the evil government,' said Mr Somsak Kosaisuk, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy protest group.
Several protesters carried clubs and metal pipes during the march Friday, as a handful of traffic police were seen nearby.
The alliance has called for Mr Somchai's resignation, branding him a puppet of his brother-in-law, deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The group's protests against Thaksin for alleged corruption and misuse of power led to the 2006 military coup that ousted the former leader.
Mr Somchai become prime minister only last month after his predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was forced from power for accepting money for hosting a TV cooking show while in office, which a court said was an illegal conflict of interest.
Mr Somchai's People's Power Party remains popular with many Thais living in the countryside, but faces opposition from the alliance and its sympathisers - including monarchists, the military and the urban elite. Several legal cases pending against him and his party also could force him to step down. -- AP
