Snap election heightens political crisis in Thailand

Thaksin’s sudden announcement on February 24—a desperate attempt to restore his political authority—came amid growing demands for his resignation sparked by the controversial $US1.85 billion sale of his family’s Shin Corp last month. Mass anti-Thaksin rallies organised by publishing tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul in Bangkok in recent weeks now appear set to continue.

Last Sunday, two days after Thaksin announced the election; an estimated 100,000 people joined a protest in the centre of the capital calling on the prime minister to resign. Sondhi was joined on the platform by former Bangkok governor Chamlong Srimuang, one of the key backers behind Thaksin’s initial push for office in 2001. Chamlong warned of continuing protests if Thaksin failed to step down. Several ministers have resigned from the government and quit Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party.

The defection of political powerbrokers such as Chamlong and Sondhi from the Thaksin camp is a clear sign that the prime minister’s support in the country’s ruling elite is waning. He initially came to power on a wave of popular hostility to the impact of IMF reforms carried out by the Democratic Party government. As well as making populist promises in order to win votes, Thaksin pledged to protect Thai businesses from the fallout from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Sondhi, for instance, who lost his business empire in the crisis, owes the revival of his fortune to Thaksin’s assistance.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/thai-m03.shtml