State of emergency in Thailand amid coup rumours
Updated Tue. Sep. 19 2006 12:15 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Thailand's prime minister has declared a "severe" state of
emergency after rumours of a military coup swept the capital and
tanks reportedly took position outside government
headquarters.
"I declare Bangkok under a severe state of emergency," Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in a message broadcast on
army-owned TV station Channel 5.
Reports say more than 10 tanks blocked roads around the government
headquarters, as Army television broadcast images of the royal
family and songs associated in the past with military coups.
Shinawatra said he was ordering the transfer of the country's army
chief to work in the prime minister's office -- effectively
suspending him from his military duties.
The prime minister is in the middle of a political crisis as a
street campaign is calling for him to step down amid allegations of
corruption and abuse of power.
He has indicated he may step down as leader of the country after
upcoming elections, but said for now he will stay at his party's
helm.
"I will be the chairman of the party, but I'm not sure whether I
should accept the prime ministership or not," he said Monday,
adding that he will announce his ambitions "before, probably on the
election registration day."
Government officials said Shinawatra, who is in New York today for
the UN General Assembly debate, planned to return to his country on
Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled.
Shinawatra has angered opponents and voters through his failure to
end separatist violence in the south, as well as his family's
decision in February to sell its shares in one of the country's
biggest telecom groups, Shin Corp., to Singaporean investors.
The sale netted his family and others $1.9 billion. Many Thais
accused the family of avoiding taxes and of letting loose control
of an important national asset.
Massive rallies earlier this year forced Thaksin to dissolve
Parliament and call for a snap election in April.
The poll was boycotted by opposition parties and later annulled by
Thailand's top courts, leaving the country without a working
legislature.
New elections are scheduled for Oct. 15 but are likely to be
postponed until at least November.
Last month, police defused a bomb hidden in a car near Shinawatra's
residence. An army lieutenant was charged in an alleged plot
against the Thai leader, according to officials.
Yesterday, Thaksin spoke of the need to promote democracy in Asia
at a New York luncheon at the Council on Foreign Relations.
He said developing democracies struggle in the same way as a "child
learning to walk."
"As adults, we must learn to live with the pain and the pangs of
democracy, lest we throw out the baby with the bath water," he
said.
With files from The Associated Press
