Protesters 'to quit Finance Ministry'
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Protesters inside the compound of the Finance Ministry will move out today, Akanat Promphan, a spokesman for the anti-government rally, said yesterday.
He also said PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s extension of the area in which the Internal Security Act is enforced should be deemed invalid, because the government had refused to accept the Constitutional Court’s power in relation to charter amendment for senatorial elections, yet it was now using the judiciary’s power against protesters.
He added that he would write to the UN, media organisations and foreign embassies to inform them that the ongoing anti-government protests were peaceful.
“The rally will not affect the public. We will not close streets, rail stations or airports,” he insisted.
Protest leader and former Democrat MP Suthep Thaugsuban earlier vowed that the protesters would stay put inside the compound of the Finance Ministry throughout yesterday in defiance of the government’s decision to invoke the Internal Security Act across all of Bangkok.
While walking around to greet demonstrators inside the compound at 8am yesterday, Suthep said he was not worried by the government’s threat of legal action against him and other protest leaders for leading protesters to encroach upon state property.
He said he had no plan on whether to lead protesters to move around Bangkok today.
Thaworn Senneam, former deputy Democrat Party leader, said protesters staying put inside the Finance Ministry were not affecting the payment of salaries to government officers, as the money had already been paid to Krung Thai Bank for onward transmission into their accounts.
Meanwhile, there was a generally calm atmosphere among the protesters at the Finance Ministry yesterday, as they sat in the shade of trees and buildings and listened to speeches from the stage.
There was, however, a security scare at 1.30pm when a red-shirted man sought to get inside the protest area. A guard for the protesters said he had encountered a 50-year-old man wearing a red jacket with “Thai Rak Thai Party” on it walking into the protest site, so he tried to protect him as he feared he may get into a fight with anti-government protesters.
