2 February polls to stay on schedule, says Thailand PM
16 Jan 2014 5:37 AM IST
Embattled Thai Premier Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday ruled out deferring snap polls due next month despite the opposition’s demand even as the massive anti-government protests across Bangkok entered the third day with no solution in sight to end the raging political crisis.
Early on Wednesday, two people were wounded in a shooting incident, a bus was burnt and the house of the opposition leader damaged in a bomb explosion, the latest in a cycle of violence that has rocked the city in recent weeks.
Yingluck, now caretaker prime minister, held a meeting with about 37 parties to discuss the Election Commission (EC)’s suggestion to postpone the 2 February polls and later said the majority of participants insisted that the elections had to go ahead.
Yingluck, who on Tuesday refused to quit as demanded by the protesters, said the government and EC had no authority to postpone the polls.
Police said a garbage collector and a woman who were at an anti-government protester rally last night were slightly wounded in a shooting incident by an unidentified gunman.
The demonstrators want Yingluck to resign and for an unelected ‘people’s council’ to be set up to oversee reforms to stamp out corruption and also to end the political clout of Yingluck’s exiled billionaire brother Thaksin, a former premier, who was overthrown in a coup in 2006.
Late last night an explosive device was also hurled at a house belonging to the family of opposition leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, causing some damage but no one was injured.
Early on Wednesday, two people were wounded in a shooting incident, a bus was burnt and the house of the opposition leader damaged in a bomb explosion, the latest in a cycle of violence that has rocked the city in recent weeks.
Yingluck, now caretaker prime minister, held a meeting with about 37 parties to discuss the Election Commission (EC)’s suggestion to postpone the 2 February polls and later said the majority of participants insisted that the elections had to go ahead.
Yingluck, who on Tuesday refused to quit as demanded by the protesters, said the government and EC had no authority to postpone the polls.
Police said a garbage collector and a woman who were at an anti-government protester rally last night were slightly wounded in a shooting incident by an unidentified gunman.
The demonstrators want Yingluck to resign and for an unelected ‘people’s council’ to be set up to oversee reforms to stamp out corruption and also to end the political clout of Yingluck’s exiled billionaire brother Thaksin, a former premier, who was overthrown in a coup in 2006.
Late last night an explosive device was also hurled at a house belonging to the family of opposition leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, causing some damage but no one was injured.
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