Thai protesters reject new PM, vow to ‘appoint new government’: spokesman
Thai opposition 'will take steps towards appointing a new government' following removal of Premier Yingluck Shinawatra from office saying new leader has no legitimacy
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 08 May, 2014, 12:20pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 08 May, 2014, 1:35pm
Agence France-Presse in Bangkok
Thai anti-government protest spokesman Akanat Promphan. Photo: Screenshot
Thai protesters who have massed on Bangkok’s streets for six months said on Thursday they would appoint a new government, following the removal of premier Yingluck Shinawatra by a court.
The announcement comes as the ailing ruling party seeks to bolster its authority after Yingluck’s dismissal.
Observers warned the move would be likely to enrage pro-government supporters, risking further violence as the country lurches deeper into a political crisis.
An indication of future conflict came when a grenade was thrown at the home of a court judge on Wednesday night, police said on Thursday.
Police Colonel Kamthorn Auicharoen said that there were no casualties and that the attackers were trying to instigate a situation to further deepen the political conflict. The headquarters of Thailand’s major commercial bank and a scientific research facility were also damaged by similar grenades overnight.
“Tomorrow [Friday] we will take steps towards appointing a new government,” protest spokesman Akanat Promphan told reporters, adding the new prime minister named after the court ruling lacked legitimacy.
“After the Constitutional Court’s decision yesterday we decided to move up our schedule ... the government has lost all legitimacy and any claim it has to govern the country.”
It was not immediately clear what legal basis their vow draws on, but the Thai constitution has an article that may enable the appointment of a new executive body by the Senate.
Anti-government protest leaders have vowed a “final fight” on Friday, without giving details of their plans.
Former PM Yingluck Shinawatra with supporters in Bangkok on Wednesday following her dismissal. Photo: Reuters
Their pledge comes a day after the Constitutional Court removed Yingluck from office for abusing her power in the 2011 transfer of a security official.
The ruling Puea Thai party accused the court of a “conspiracy” against the administration, many of whose ministers are loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra – Yingluck’s billionaire brother and a former prime minister ousted in a military coup.
Thaksin is adored by the rural, poor northern portion of the country for his populist policies, but reviled by the Bangkok-based establishment and southern royalists.
The appointment of a new premier by the anti-government group “is the red line not to be crossed,” said Thailand-based author and academic David Streckfuss.
“The Red Shirts will rise en masse,” he said referring to Shinawatra supporters who are due to hold a mass rally on Saturday in a Bangkok suburb.
The ruling Puea Thai party's replacement premier Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan. Photo: AFP
Puea Thai swiftly appointed a deputy premier – Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan – as Yingluck’s replacement.
An anti-graft authority may rule on Thursday against Yingluck and a former minister in a case over a costly rice subsidy scheme – that could lead to a five-year ban from politics.
Observers say the anti-government movement is banking on legal rulings to chisel away at the new administration.
They have been camped on Bangkok’s streets for six months in a bid to topple Yingluck and rid the country of the influence of her brother.
At least 25 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded in political violence since they flooded Bangkok’s streets and there are fears of wider clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters as the crisis intensifies.
The kingdom has been bitterly split since 2006 when an army coup deposed Thaksin.
He now lives overseas to avoid jail for corruption convictions, that he says were politically motivated.
Shinawatra-led or linked governments have won every election since 2001.
On Wednesday Yingluck became the third premier of a Thaksin-aligned government to be forced from office by the courts, who critics say support the Thai elite.
