Hundreds protest push to amend Thai constitution

Nov 23, 2010, 4:31 GMT

Bangkok - Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Thai parliament Tuesday to oppose efforts to amend the constitution, deemed a first step towards holding new elections.

About 1,000 supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement, which helped overthrow the administration of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 and his proxy cabinet in 2008, massed outside Parliament House to protest the amendments.

'We will stay here until parliament closes, then we will go home to sleep,' said PAD leader Sonthi Limthongkul.

The PAD, a pro-royalist movement whose followers wear yellow or pink shirts, is opposed to the government's efforts to amend the 2007 constitution which was drafted while the country was under a military-appointed cabinet.

The constitution was seen supportive of the bureaucracy and appointed officials and as a step backwards for elected politicians and political parties.

It was endorsed by a plebiscite in mid-2007.

'Some 17 million people supported the 2007 constitution,' Sonthi said. 'If the government wants to amend it, they should ask the permission of those 17 million people.'

The coalition government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is debating two amendments to the 2007 charter deemed essential to the holding of a general election.

The first amendment seeks to change the current system of multi-member parliament constituencies in elections to single- member ones, a change that is expected to favour smaller parties and powerful local personalities.

As second seeks to clarify when the government needs to seek parliamentary endorsement of international treaties.

'These amendments are no good for the people. They are just good for the politicians,' Sonthi said.

The 1997 constitution, seen as the country's most liberal to date, paved the way for the rise of Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party, which swept to electoral victories in 2001 and 2005 on a populist platform that benefited the rural and urban poor and gave them a sense of political entitlement previously unknown.

While Thaksin, a former billionaire telecommunications tycoon, won a huge following among the underclass, his dictatorial style and self-serving policies eventually antagonized the middle classes and political elite. A military coup toppled him in September 2006.

Since the coup, Thailand has witnessed a series of street protests led by either anti-Thaksin or pro-Thaksin movements.

The pro-Thaksin United front for Democracy against Dictatorship, better known as the red shirts, led street protests against the current government in April 2009 and March-May of this year.

The March-May protests resulted in unprecedented street battles in Bangkok that claimed 92 lives and left parts of the city in flames.

Read more about Demos

Read more about Thailand Politics