People’s Party condemns coup rhetoric at weekend rally
People’s Party urges protesters to reject coup-leaning rhetoric, warns against undemocratic solutions to Thailand’s political crisis.
The People’s Party issued a statement on Sunday (June 29) in response to the protest staged a day earlier by the “Uniting the Power of the Land” group at Victory Monument.
While acknowledging that demands for Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s resignation and calls for coalition parties to withdraw support from the government are part of normal democratic discourse, the party expressed grave concern over speeches made on stage by some protest leaders.
These speeches, the statement said, went beyond legitimate criticism and veered into dangerous territory — including content that appeared to legitimise or advocate for a military coup and political interference through undemocratic means
“The People’s Party strongly condemns any attempt to justify a military coup,” the statement read, calling such acts a serious violation of the Constitution and a fundamental betrayal of democratic principles. It urged citizens dissatisfied with the Prime Minister to withdraw support from protest groups whose leaders have shown an inclination towards anti-democratic interventions.
“While political protests are a legitimate form of expression in a democracy, we must not forget the hard lessons of the past 20 years,” the party stated. “Thailand has suffered immeasurably from two military coups, which not only failed to resolve political problems but also exacerbated issues of corruption, judicial distortion, and crony capitalism.”
The statement warned against allowing current government failures to be exploited as a pretext for another undemocratic seizure of power.
“We must not allow the shortcomings of this administration to open the door to yet another coup, or any form of political intervention that violates democratic norms. Such actions would only deepen the political and economic crisis.”
The People’s Party reaffirmed its belief that the best way out of the current political deadlock is through the constitutional process: the dissolution of Parliament and a new general election.
“Let the people decide the country’s future. They alone must determine who leads the government and in what direction the nation should go.”
