Thailand: Emergency Rule
‘The prime minister declared a state of emergency Tuesday in Bangkok to restore order after overnight clashes between government opponents and supporters left one person dead and 43 injured,’ the Associated Press reports.
‘Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej called it the “softest means available” to end the violence. But the order gave sweeping powers to the military, banned all public gatherings of more than five people and barred the media from reporting news that “causes panic.”‘
He gave no timeframe for the end of emergency rule but said it would be over “moderately quickly.”
“I did it to solve the problems of the country,” Samak said in a televised news conference at a military headquarters in Bangkok. “Because the situation turned out this way, I had no other choice.”
The overnight violence heightened a national crisis that started a week ago when opponents of Samak occupied the grounds of his office and refused to move until he resigned.
Shortly after Samak spoke, a new crisis confronted his government. The Election Commission recommended that his People’s Power Party be disbanded for electoral fraud committed during December elections.
If the case is brought to court, Samak’s government will be brought down. It will be the end of his rule, at a moment the country is in chaos.
Several countries in the region have told their citizens not to travel to Thailand in the coming days. The situation in the Asian country is too insecure, these countries’ governments argue.
In Thailand itself, police are trying to shut up protesters, not allowing them to express their anger with the government. Protesters, however, are not quite willing to let the police shut them up, and continue to go out on the streets, day in, day out.
Force is being used against them, but the protesters persis, claiming they are right and trying to force Samak to resign.
For now, Samak is holding on to power, but the pressure on him is increasing. It seems a matter of time before he will indeed be forced to step down; hopefully for Thais, he will do that before the entire country is in turmoil.
