Thai Body Tells PM to Dissolve Parliament

Jakarta Globe, April 12, 2010

“Red Shirt” protesters taking part in a funeral procession in central Bangkok after weekend violence left 21 people dead. Thailand’s Election Commission on Monday ruled that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat Party received more than 258 million baht ($8 million) in donations without declaring it.  (AFP Photo)

Bangkok. Thailand’s Election Commission ruled on Monday that the ruling party be dissolved for alleged misuse of poll donations, offering a potential victory for antigovernment protesters who continued to press the prime minister to resign.

The ruling, which would require Constitutional Court endorsement to take effect, came soon after Thailand’s influential army chief appeared to back a key demand of the protesters, saying Parliament might need to be dissolved to resolve the country’s violent political standoff.

The Red Shirts, named for their garb, struck a defiant tone on Monday, parading coffins through the capital and saying they would not back down.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has remained defiant about not resigning, now faces unprecedented pressure, after the deadliest political clashes in nearly two decades on Saturday.

The Oxford-educated prime minister was largely seen as having the backing of the powerful military, which has traditionally played an important role in the country’s politics, and has not hesitated to step in with coups in times of political instability.

But his control of security forces has increasingly been called into question over the past month as red-shirted protesters — supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — repeatedly marched through the capital. On Saturday, soldiers and police failed to dislodge demonstrators, setting off clashes that killed 21.

“If the issue cannot be resolved through political means, then Parliament dissolution seems to be a reasonable step,” army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda said. “If people want a government of national unity, then by all means, go ahead. I just want peace to prevail.”

“Right now the circumstances dictate that a solution should be achieved through political means,” he said. The Red Shirt protesters accused Abhisit’s government of coming to power illegally with the help of the military after Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup amid allegations of massive corruption.

In its ruling on Monday, the Election Commission found the Democrat Party — Thailand’s oldest — guilty of misusing campaign donations. No date was set for a Constitutional Court hearing.

Raucous cheers erupted at a major protest site when a speaker announced the decision to his audience. “This is a victory for us. Our democracy heroes didn’t die in vain,” Veera Musikapong, a protest leader, said.

The commission was ruling on a complaint filed by the Red Shirts that the Democrat Party received more than 258 million baht ($8 million) in donations from a private cement company, TPI Polene, without declaring it, as required by law, and using it for election campaigning. The party was also accused of misusing 29 million baht ($800,000) from a political fund.

The commission had scheduled the ruling for April 20, but announced it more than a week early without explanation. Still, the decision could offer a way out of the political deadlock between the government and protesters.

If the party is dissolved, new elections would have to be called, and the prime minister and all the top executives of the party would be barred from politics for five years.

Unconfirmed reports in local newspapers have also said that Abhisit’s coalition partners in the government want him to compromise with the protesters by dissolving Parliament in the next six months instead of by year’s end, as he had earlier proposed. He must call elections by the end of 2011.

Associated Press