|
 General Prayuth Chan-ocha said "the door was neither open nor
closed" when asked whether a coup would happen, a marked shift from
the strong denials the armed forces routinely make.
"Anything can happen," Prayuth told a news conference in Bangkok.
"It depends on the situation ... we are trying to do the right
thing, in a peaceful way and we urge negotiations."
The general's comments represent a major setback at a critical time
for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is under attack from
opponents determined to overthrow her and weaken the influence of
her self-exiled brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
She has called an election for February 2, which her Puea Thai Party
is almost certain to win, but anti-government protesters have vowed
to stop the poll. The Election Commission (EC) also asked for a
postponement after violent clashes on Thursday.
The political deadlock and violence have become all too familiar in
Thailand, where the military have staged or attempted to stage 18
coups in 81 years of democracy.
Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy is divided broadly between
those who love Thaksin, such as the rural poor in the populous north
and northeast, and those who loathe him, a group that includes
Bangkok's conservative elite and middle class.
The events of the past two days suggest powerful forces could again
be at work to undermine Thaksin's populist political machine, which
has won every election since 2001.
Yingluck has been in her northern strongholds this past week
rallying support ahead of a ballot she is determined will go ahead,
aware her caretaker government could be exposed to an escalation of
street protests, legal challenges and the possibility of a military
overthrow.
Rumors of a coup have swirled in recent weeks. Three sources with
ties to the military have told Reuters recently that two of
Prayuth's still-influential predecessors had expressed their support
for the anti-government protest movement.
HERO AND VILLAIN
The protesters want the suspension of what they say is a fragile
democracy subverted by Thaksin to enhance the business empires of
his family and friends, using cheap healthcare, micro-loans and
state subsidies to buy off the poor.
They draw strength from the south, as well as Bangkok's
establishment of old-money families, the royalist bureaucracy and
generals who despise Thaksin's rise.
Fifty-three parties have signed up to run in the polls. The EC said
on Friday it would seek talks with the government and demonstrators
to break the deadlock.
[to top of second column] |
"We expect to have a solution before the New Year comes,"
commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn told reporters.
The government was initially counting on the army for its
cooperation, even though it overthrew Thaksin in 2006.
Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul asked the military on
Friday to provide security for election candidates and voters but
there has been no public response.
Instead of an election, the protesters want an appointed "people's
council" to replace Yingluck and introduce political reforms before
any future vote.
Their wider aim is to neutralize the power of the Shinawatra family.
Muddying the waters further, the main opposition Democratic Party
says it will boycott the vote.
The weeks of protests had been largely peaceful, even though as many
as 200,000 people have been on the streets. A hard core of about 500
protesters, some carrying knives and slingshots, were behind
Thursday's violence.
The Public Health Ministry said two people, including a policeman,
had been killed by an unidentified gunman and 153 people wounded, 39
of them police, in Thursday's clashes.
The crisis is starting to drag on the economy. The Thai baht plumbed
close to four-year lows this week and Thai stocks fell two percent
after Thursday's violence.
The Finance Ministry cut its growth forecast for 2013 on Thursday,
due in part to the political unrest, and 2014 forecasts are also in
jeopardy.
The first two years of Yingluck's government had been relatively
smooth until a blunder by Puea Thai in November, when it tried to
push through an unpopular amnesty bill that would have exonerated
Thaksin from a 2008 graft conviction he says was politically
motivated.
(Additional reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat;
writing by Martin
Petty and Paul Tait; editing by Robert Birsel)
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