Govt watchful for tomorrow's political D-Day
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The government on Wednesday called on the antigovernment protest on Thursday to be led by opposition Democrat Party in order to abide by the law, Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said.
The government would not extend the enforcement of the Internal Security Act (ISA), he said. The three districts in Bangkok which have come under the ISA are within and adjacent to significant state buildings including Government House and the Parliament.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra meanwhile called an urgent meeting of highranking security officials to assess the latest political situation and planned rallies by several social civic groups and the opposition Democrat Party.
The Democrats announced declared a major rally for Thursday evening after four deputy leaders; Korn Chatikavanij, Thaworn Senneam, Issara Somchai and Siriwan Prassachaksattru, resigned from their administrative positions.
They will keep their House seats, however. Their joint reason for stepping down is to preempt any attempt to dissolve the main opposition party by citing their protest activities.
The Democrats, led by MP Suthep Thuagsuban, will on Thursday organise the rally at Samsen train station, coinciding with House debate on the issue.
Pol Gen Pracha said the PeaceKeeping Administrative Centre would evaluate the situation to see if the ISCimposed areas would have to be expanded.
Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan instructed provincial governors nationwide to be on alert and ordered chiefs of all districts to monitor political movements in their areas.
“We are all aware of ongoing demonstrations in the southern and central regions while the House of Representatives discusses the Amnesty Bill in the second and third readings, starting October 31,” Charupong noted in his instructions.
He said governors were authorised to impose the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act in case of untoward incidents or violence in their respective provinces.
“Be proactive and fast in solving any problem. Do not go by the bureaucratic system in handling any incident after it occurs. I will evaluate your performance based on your prevention strategy,” the interior minister warned.
He also ordered governors to concentrate on listening to people’s opinions on the government’s Bt3.5 billion water management project and the infrastructure development plan, as well as to pay compensation to floodhit people within two months.
