Yingluck, weakened by four months of street protests, has been given until 29 March to defend herself, pushed back from Friday, 14 March.
Thailand’s long-running political crisis broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and elite plus some southerners against the mostly rural backers of Yingluck and her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, from the north and northeast.
Thaksin lives overseas to avoid a two-year jail term handed down for graft but is seen as the power behind Yingluck.
The focus of opposition has switched to the courts from the streets, where the number of protesters has dwindled.
National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanathabutr said a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces could be lifted soon because the ‘overall security situation has improved’, which would come as relief to retailers and the tourism sector, hard hit by the sometimes violent protests.
‘We’re lifting the state of emergency after pleas from the business community that we do so to restore confidence,’ Paradorn said, adding that the decision was waiting for final approval from Yingluck.
Thailand’s long-running political crisis broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and elite plus some southerners against the mostly rural backers of Yingluck and her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, from the north and northeast.
Thaksin lives overseas to avoid a two-year jail term handed down for graft but is seen as the power behind Yingluck.
The focus of opposition has switched to the courts from the streets, where the number of protesters has dwindled.
National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanathabutr said a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces could be lifted soon because the ‘overall security situation has improved’, which would come as relief to retailers and the tourism sector, hard hit by the sometimes violent protests.
‘We’re lifting the state of emergency after pleas from the business community that we do so to restore confidence,’ Paradorn said, adding that the decision was waiting for final approval from Yingluck.