Call for 'people's government'

Suthep Thaugsuban, a key leader of the protest against the so-called Thaksin regime, announced a plan to form a “people’s government” yesterday following a peaceful seizure of state power by the people.

In a symbolic gesture to paralyse the government, demonstrators began three sieges – at the Finance Ministry, the Public Relations Department (PRD) and the Foreign Ministry.

The latter incident saw about 100 protesters from the Network of Students and People for Thailand’s Reform occupy a carpark at the Foreign Ministry in the early evening.

“A people’s government will be established to amend the country’s rules so that it is genuinely a democracy under constitutional monarchy,” he said. 

Suthep encouraged people who back the protesters’ cause to seize state power “with their bare hands” by occupying government offices all across the country. 

He spoke at a press conference held inside the Finance Ministry after a group of protesters that he led managed to occupy the Budget Bureau, which is located inside the ministry’s complex. Suthep was surrounded and asked by an army of reporters, many from television stations accused by the protesters of failing to sufficiently cover the mass street demonstrations over recent days.

Suthep said the occupation of the Finance Ministry was an example made for people to occupy state offices in their areas. This was part of efforts to paralyse the “Thaksin regime”.  

A senior Democrat politician who recently resigned as an MP, Suthep denied he was rebelling against the government. He said the government lost its legitimacy to rule after it rejected the power of the Constitutional Court.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra expressed concern yesterday about protesters occupying the Finance Ministry compound. She said the government had not expected the protesters to trespass into a government office.

Yingluck said protesters could cause damage and hurt confidence in the government with intrusions into state offices. However, she said the Cabinet had no plan to declare a state of emergency. 

She said the protesters had already expressed their wishes and should wait for a censure debate starting today instead of seizing government offices.

Yesterday’s dramas came after thousands of demonstrators marched from their base at the Democracy Monument to various destinations in Bangkok. Among the targeted sites were the National Police Office, the Royal Thai Army, and TV stations including ThaiTV3.

The situation was tense at several spots, prompting relevant authorities to consider extending the Internal Security Act (ISA) for 30 more days. The current invocation of the ISA is set to expire this Saturday.

Insiders said many Democrats insist that they were not involved in Suthep’s movement and did not know about his plan. 

Suthep and eight colleagues resigned as Democrat MPs on November 11 to lead the battle against the blanket amnesty bill, which was later upgraded into a fight against what they called the “Thaksin regime”. 

The protest gained significant momentum Sunday, when a huge crowd of demonstrators massed at Democracy Monument and nearby roads. 

Last night, Suthep’s supporters stayed overnight inside the Finance Ministry. He said a new protest site would be set up at the ministry. At press time, anti-government demonstrators also occupied the PRD and the Foreign Ministry carpark. 

Some protesters managed to cut off the main power line to the Budget Bureau.

The Centre for Administration of Peace and Order, meanwhile, threatened to press charges against Suthep and the demonstrators for besieging the Finance Ministry and forcing officials out.

“A convicted mastermind is liable to a jail term or a fine, or both,” the centre’s spokesman Maj General Piya Uthayo said 

Former Democrat MP Panit Wikritset, who joined Suthep’s protest, said his group decided to besiege the Finance Ministry’s Budget Bureau because it was a source of funding for the government under the Thaksin regime. Panit led the siege at the Public Relations Department.

“We have besieged the PRD as a symbolic gesture. The PRD should speak for people,” he said. 

Suthep said he intended to beat down the current government, because it was a puppet of Thaksin, within three days.

He said if the government did not listen to demonstrators’ voice, they would besiege more ministries today.

In response to the protest, the Secretariat of the House of Representatives ordered its officials to leave early because of concern for their safety. The secretariat said officials with urgent tasks to tend to may move to work in other places instead.

Anti-riot police also asked officials at Government House to urgently leave yesterday afternoon as they were preparing to erect concrete barriers at all gates. 

Meanwhile, a source said Army chief General Prayut Chan-ocha had decided to have five top Army officials work from the 11th Infantry Division, the Royal Guards, instead of Army headquarters on Rajdamnoen Avenue. They would be there for three days.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a high-ranking military officer said the RTA was closely monitoring the situation. “The RTA is worried about a possible clash between officials and demonstrators,” he said, “But definitely, the RTA will not stage a coup because that will only cause damage to the country”. 

 

 

The 14 sites they visited

 

Places the protesters marched to: 

1.      Armed Forces Supreme Command 

2. Royal Thai Air Force headquarters 

3. Royal Thai Army headquarters 

4. Royal Thai Navy headquarters 

5. Royal Thai Police headquarters 

6. Metropolitan Police Bureau

7. Channel 3 

8. Channel 5 

9. Channel 7

10. MCOT (Modernine)

11. NBT television station and Public 

Relations Department

12. Interior Ministry 

13. Budget Bureau 

14. Foreign Affairs Ministry