18 injured as anti-government demonstrators mass in downtown Bangkok
BANGKOK, Thailand: At least 18 people were injured Sunday as thousands of demonstrators massed in the heart of Thailand's capital to demand the ouster of the three-month-old government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.
An Associated Press reporter saw rocks, bottles and other objects injure at least 18 anti-government protesters and their opponents as they clashed before riot police moved in to separate the opposing sides.
The clash occurred when a member of the People's Alliance for Democracy, Praphan Khunmee, told the crowd at Bangkok's Democracy Monument that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was scheming to create a dynasty using Samak and others as his proxies. Police estimated that about 15,000 people attended the demonstration, but there was no way to confirm the exact number.
Samak is widely viewed as a proxy for Thaksin, who was overthrown in a September 2006 military coup following massive People's Alliance-led demonstrations demanding he step down because of alleged corruption and abuse of power.
Speakers at Sunday's rally also accused Samak of trying to change the constitution as a way to hold onto power and to prevent Thaksin from facing justice. Under the existing military-backed constitution that was implemented after Thaksin's ouster, the prime minister can only amend the charter for the public interest, not for personal interest.
Some of the parties making up Samak's coalition government could face disqualification for electoral fraud in connection with Thailand's general election last December.
Thaksin faces corruption-related charges filed by special committees set up by the military after the coup.
If the constitution is amended to deprive those committees of their legal basis for existence, charges brought by them against Thaksin and his family could in turn be abandoned.
The protesters said they would camp out at Government House until protest leaders submit an impeachment motion to Parliament to oust the government for violating the constitution by trying to amend it for their own ends.
The law requires the names of 20,000 eligible voters to impeach lawmakers. The protesters said they already had more than 100,000 signatures on hand.
International Herald Tribune ay 25, 2008