Thai PM considers resigning in wake of protests

Somchai Wongsawat has only held the job for just over three weeks

Sunday, October 12, 2008

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand's embattled prime minister indicated on Saturday that he may resign in the wake of fierce anti-government protests earlier this week that left two people dead and hundreds injured.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who has held the job for little more than three weeks, said he was considering his position as protesters against him and his administration prepared for another mass rally.
Asked if he would resign or dissolve parliament, Somchai told reporters: "It's the issue that I must consider, what's best in both the short and long term. I'm not attached to the idea of being prime minister.
"I have to study the pros and cons of each scenario, such as dissolving the House or resignation," he said.
Somchai is struggling to govern Thailand amid political protests that show no signs of abating.
On Friday his spokesman insisted he would not quit, but senior military leaders -- influential in coup-prone Thailand -- have put pressure on the premier to solve the crisis quickly.
Supreme Commander General Songkitti Jaggabatara, the kingdom's highest-ranking military officer, said on Saturday he had consulted the heads of the army, navy and air force, which he oversees.
"We have held consultations between the three armed forces. I have told the government to solve the problem," Songkitti told reporters.
"As of now there is no coup, it's not time for the military to come out," said Songkitti, whose role is largely ceremonial.
Somchai insisted there was no rift between himself and the military. "I am still talking with them, there is no conflict," he said.
On Tuesday, police fired tear gas at demonstrators who had blockaded parliament to protest a government plan to amend the country's constitution, a move they say is aimed at helping ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The People's Alliance for Democracy claims the current government is running the country on behalf of Thaksin, who was toppled in a September 2006 coup following other PAD protests.
Thousands of the group's supporters marched to parliament late Monday where Somchai -- Thaksin's brother-in-law -- was delivering his first policy address the next day.
Bloody clashes that followed on Tuesday between the protesters and police left two dead and at least 478 people injured in the worst street violence in Bangkok in 16 years.
Somchai has since announced an independent investigation into the incident, but the PAD on Friday said it would hold further rallies on October 13.
On Saturday, the premier called on the PAD to reconsider the protest.
"Our country is in turmoil -- is this only the government's fault?" Somchai said.
"I want to ask protesters not to create more disturbance, I am ready to talk. They (protesters) are Thai so we speak the same language."
Thai society is bitterly divided between supporters of the populist government, mostly the rural poor, and the country's royalist elite who form the mainstay of support for the anti-government protesters.

Khmer demonstration in front of Thai embassy in Vienna, Austria, on 10 october 2008

Cambodia's Prince Ranariddh returns home [-Dr. Lao Mong Hay: Like father like son?]

Ranariddh praying at a pagoda in Siem Reap upon his arrival (Photo: Frédéric Amat, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

Wednesday, October 01, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Cambodia's Prince Norodom Ranariddh has returned from exile just days after being pardoned by the king over a fraud conviction. His political rival, Prime Minister Hun Sen requested the amnesty.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Lao Mong Hay, senior researcher Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong.
COCHRANE: Prince Norodom Ranariddh wasted no time getting back to Cambodia, news of a royal pardon emerged Thursday and by Sunday Prince Ranariddh touched down in the temple town of Siem Reap. He had been staying in self-imposed exile in Malaysia, with his second wife and their young son, after being convicted in absentia last year of embezzling $3.6 million in a land deal. After his arrival back, Ranariddh told media he was grateful to his half-brother King Norodom Sihamoni and to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who requested the royal pardon. Ranariddh also said his political party - the Norodom Ranariddh Party would no longer be oppose the ruling Cambodian People's Party, saying they only wanted to serve the nation. However, Lao Mong Hay, a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, says Prince Ranariddh's return was made possible by him accepting the results of a national election in August. The poll was criticised by observers for irregularities and initially three opposition parties - including the Norodom Ranariddh Party rejected the outcome. Lao Mong Hay says a deal was done between Ranariddh and Hun Sen.
HAY: Ranariddh had changed his mind about the results of the election and abandoned the early sort of coalition with the other parties to denounce the results of the election. This is the price he paid to get Hun Sen to support a pardon for him.
COCHRANE: Neither Prince Ranariddh or the Cambodian government spokesperson could not be contacted to respond to the claims. But it's not the first time Ranariddh has fallen out with Hun Sen. Ranariddh won Cambodia's first election in 1993 but was ousted by Hun Sen in a coup four years later. More recently, Ranariddh was charged under a new monogomy law, which critics say was introduced specifically to target the prince, who has lived openly with his second wife, classical dancer Ouk Palla. Lao Mong Hay says Ranariddh has received special treatment, and says the royal demonstrates a tradition of impunity for the rich and powerful.
HAY: The deal struck between Hun Sen and Ranariddh undermined the rule of law, if any rule of law exists in Cambodia, in the sense that power prevailed over the rule of law.
COCHRANE: Ranariddh said he would give a full press conference later this week, but did indicate he might try to continue his political career. Lao Mong Hay says that although he is still seen as a representative of the much-loved monarchy by some sections of the public, Ranariddh's reputation may be sullied by the perception he is a playboy prince without any deep political convictions.
HAY: But I think to many he has been very much discredited by his mercurial style, a changing prince like his father in the past.
COCHRANE: While observers say Ranariddh's return wont significantly alter the political situation in Cambodia, there has been at least one change in his absence. His daughter, Princess Rattana Devi, has turned his villa in the capital of Phnom Penh into an upmarket French restaurant, so the prince is staying with his family in another residence in the north west town of Siem Reap.