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.