 BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Protesters in Thailand who have occupied the grounds of the prime minister's office for six weeks marched Monday night to the streets outside parliament, vowing to block the government from delivering a policy statement to lawmakers.
The action by the People's Alliance for Democracy came in the aftermath of the arrests of two of its leaders, and seemed intended to spark a confrontation to revive its flagging movement.
"We are marching to the parliament, which the puppet government has been using as a tool to hold on to power," Sirichai Maingam, one of the protest leaders, told the crowd as they embarked.
"A government, which has no legitimacy, has no right to announce their policies because whatever they say, they will end up corrupting everything," said another leader, Somsak Kosaisuk.
The alliance claims Thailand's electoral system is susceptible to vote buying, promoting corruption in politics. It derides Thailand's rural majority — who gave landslide election victories to the current government — as too poorly educated to responsibly choose their representatives.
The protest group wants the country to abandon the system of one-man, one-vote, and instead have a mixed system in which some representatives are chosen by certain professions and social groups. They have not explained how exactly such a system would work or what would make it less susceptible to manipulation.  About 300 police were stationed at parliament Monday night, but did nothing to stop the protesters, who appeared to number several thousand, from closing off the street and setting up tents.
On Sunday, police arrested Chamlong Srimuang, a key protest leader and one-time Bangkok mayor on charges of insurrection and other crimes. Another key figure, Chaiwat Sinsuwongse, was arrested Friday on the same charges.
The protest alliance originally took over the grounds of Government House with the announced intention of staying until then Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej stepped down. It accused Samak of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown by a September 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.
Samak was dismissed from office on Sept. 9 by a court decision that found him guilty on a conflict of interest charge. But the protest alliance then said his successor, Somchai Wongsawat — a brother in law of Thaksin — was also not acceptable. |