Thai Administration Reaches Out to Foe
Protesters Force Government's Hand
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Thursday, April 2, 2009
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, April 1 -- Thailand's four-month-old government, under increasing pressure from opposition demonstrations, has offered a tentative olive branch to its most potent adversary, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"If talks can bring peace to the country, I am ready to meet him anywhere, because Thaksin is the only person that can end the siege," Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister, said Wednesday.
Thaksin is in self-imposed exile after being sentenced to two years in jail for violating conflict-of-interest laws, but he has been broadcasting nightly speeches by video to thousands of supporters besieging Government House in Bangkok.
The demonstrators, known as "red shirts," have promised to keep expanding their protests until they force the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government. Abhisit is in London attending the Group of 20 economic summit.
A spokesman for Thaksin cautiously welcomed the proposal.
"I think Mr. Thaksin would like to see the conflict in Thailand solved peacefully. If there is anything he can do, I'm sure he is willing to do it," said the spokesman, Pongthep Thepkanjana.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said the olive branch extended by Suthep could form the basis of a deal that might help bridge Thailand's deep political divide. But he warned that it will take long and complicated negotiations to resolve the problems posed by Thaksin's conviction.
Abhisit gained control of the government in a parliamentary vote late last year after enticing enough of Thaksin's parliamentary supporters to leave his camp. Thaksin's appeal is rooted in the disenchantment that the population feels with the Abhisit government and with the influential elite that assisted Abhisit's rise to power.
"I have been very surprised at the traction the red shirts have gained. Many people, especially in the establishment, have underestimated how many people are unhappy with the status quo," Thitinan said.
