Rally against senators to take place Tuesday evening
The United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) group will rally on Tuesday evening at the Parliament House in Bangkok’s Dusit district, where the Senate will meet in an extraordinary session from 9am.
According to the Senate’s agenda, the meeting will approve candidates from independent organisations as members of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the State Audit Commission, as well as officials who will be responsible for investigating the personal, criminal and ethical records of those members.
On Monday evening, the UFTD posted a banner on its facebook page reading “Senators must not oppose people’s resolution”, inviting people to gather in front of the Parliament House (Boon Rawd side) on May 23, from 5pm to 8pm.
The photo has been widely shared among supporters of Move Forward Party, which won the most MP seats in the May 14 general election.
The UFTD said that the rally aimed to remind the 250 senators, who will join 500 newly elected MPs in voting for the new Prime Minister, that they must not oppose the opinion of the majority.
The group also described those senators who had earlier announced that they would not vote for Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat to be the next PM as “opposers of democratic principles.”
A news source said the rally organiser has notified the Bang Sue police station of the details of the gathering. They said there will be a 3-metre wide stage with loudspeakers and about 100 participants but no marches or blocking of the traffic. The event is expected to start at 3pm and end no later than 10pm.
The source added that the police are preparing to deploy 450 crowd control officers and use steel gates to prevent demonstrators from entering the Parliament House.
