Thai protesters mull PM offer of November elections

Thailand’s Red Shirt protest movement was on Tuesday to consider Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s proposal to hold elections in mid November as a way of ending the country’s political crisis.

A spokesman for the movement, which has demanded the immediate dissolution of Abhisit’s government, said late Monday it would discuss the prime minister’s proposal before responding.

“We may have offers for the government. We may not agree to everything,” one of the protest leaders, Jatuporn Prompan, told AFP.

Speaking on national television, Abhisit said Monday that he was ready to hold elections in November to resolve the tense standoff with anti-government protesters, who have occupied Bangkok’s commercial heart. He said the proposed timetable, under which an election will be held a year earlier than scheduled, was subject to all parties agreeing to a five-point reconciliation process aimed at ending the crippling impasse.

The plan calls for respect for the monarchy, greater social equality, an impartial media, an independent probe into the current political crisis and a debate on the need for constitutional reform.

“I’m convinced that it will not take long to achieve national reconciliation and when we achieve national reconciliation the government is ready to hold elections on November 14,” said Abhisit. “I think this is the best solution at the current time,” he said.

The mostly poor or working class “Red Shirt” protesters have occupied parts of Bangkok since mid-March, defying a state of emergency in their bid to topple a government they see as elitist and undemocratic.

There have been a series of tense confrontations between the demonstrators and the security forces in Bangkok, where 27 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured in unrest last month.

The Red Shirts have reinforced roadblocks and stepped up security checks on the perimeter of their sprawling protest site, which has been fortified with barricades made from piled up truck tyres, razor wire and bamboo stakes.

Abhisit last month rejected a compromise offer by the Reds to disperse if elections were held within three months, and the protesters have reverted to their original demand for immediate polls.