Bangkok, Red & Yellow Shirt Rallies: Yutthasak: Police can handle rallies
Yutthasak: Police can handle rallies | Bangkok Post: news
Yutthasak: Police can handle ralliesNo soldiers will be deployed to help maintain law and order during the planned rallies in Bangkok by both red and yellow shirts tomorrow, Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa said on Tuesday.
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Gen Yutthasak Sasiprapa (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
Police were capable of keeping the situation under control, Gen Yutthasak said. He did not believe there would be any violence during the rallies by supporters of the yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the rival red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).
"The peace keeping committee has prepared measures to prevent confrontation between the red and yellow people groups and to ensure law and order," he said.
Tight security measures would be in place. A large number of police would necessarily be on duty on Wednesday when the World Economic forum on East Asia also opens in Bangkok.
Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar would be among the world leaders in Bangkok, said Gen Yutthasak.
Asked whether the rally by the yellow-shirts would be prolonged, the deputy premier said he could not say for the moment, but expressed his confidence that the parliament would not be encircled, as happened in the past.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in Australia that the planned yellow-shirt protest against the reconciliation bill was unlikely to hurt investment in the country.
"Everyone wants to see the country move forward and we have to create confidence among investors," said Ms Yingluck in Canberra, where she was on the final leg of a three-day visit. She was due back in Thailand late Tuesday.
"As for the mass gathering tomorrow (Wednesday), we have to understand that the economy and politics are two separate issues because political activities take place within the parliament while people can express their views within the framework of law," she said.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the proposed reconciliation bill could lead to severe political conflict and social division.
The unity bill proposed by the 2006 coup leader and current leader of the Matubhum Party, Gen Sonthi Boonyaratgalin, could create another round of social division and political violence, Mr Abhisit said.
The country's justice system could also be damaged if the law is approved the House of Representatives, he added.
Asked about the comment by Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit that the Democrats should submit their own reconciliation bill to parliament, as an option, the opposition leader said Mr Prompong had no understanding at all about the reconciliation process.
"All political parties had earlier agreed that the move for reconciliation should start from discussion forums, not by proposing the bill to the parliament for deliberation.
"The easiest way to settle the current political conflict and social division is for the reconciliation bill be withdrawn from parliament and allow the process to create unity move along on the agreed procedures," Mr Abhisit said.
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House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont (Photo by Pattarachai Preechapanich)
The PAD earlier announced that it would hold a mass gathering of the yellow-shirts at the Royal Plaza on Wednesday to protest against the reconciliation bill, which is now expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The UDD also said it will hold a mass red-shirt rally in front of the parliament building compound on Wednesday to show support for the reconciliation bill.
House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont said versions of the reconciliation bill proposed by various groups would probably be taken up for deliberation on Thursday, May 31, not Wednesday as earlier thought.
Mr Somsak said although the House might vote to move the bill forward for early consideration, House regulations stipulate that the item can only be deliberated one day after being moved up the agenda list.
So, the House was now expected to begin debating the reconciliation bill on Thursday, May 31, he said.
Three drafts of the reconciliation bill were reported to have been submitted to the House - one by Matubhum Party leader Sonthi, one by MPs of the Pheu Thai Party, and the other by the UDD.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said he would not yet submit his bill to the House because other Pheu Thai MPs had already submitted their bills, although not in the name of the party.
