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Call for putsch to end Thai protest
Agence France Presse - October 11, 2008
Jutarat Tongpiam, Bangkok – Protest leaders in Thailand were released on bail yesterday after turning themselves in on charges related to their campaign to overthrow the Government. At the same time, a former government minister called for a military coup to end the unrest.
"The police have granted bail to all protest leaders unconditionally," said Sondhi Limthongkul, leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who surrendered with six others.
As they trickled out of the police station, Mr Sondhi said he was going directly to the protest camp at the prime minister's Government House offices, which party protesters have occupied since late August.
The seven party leaders had turned themselves in after police issued arrest warrants for illegal assembly and inciting unrest. A court earlier dropped the more serious charges of insurrection.
The bail rulings have been greeted by protesters as a victory in their fight against the elected Government, which is looking increasingly crippled as adverse judicial decisions mount.
On Tuesday thousands of protesters marched on parliament to try to stop a speech by the new Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, prompting clashes with police which left two dead and hundreds injured in the worst street violence in Bangkok in years.
Efforts by Mr Somchai, who has been leader for just over three weeks, to end the four-month campaign against his party have so far failed, and his government appears to have few allies.
His former chief negotiator with the protesters told the Bangkok Post yesterday he saw no peaceful way out of the turmoil.
"A House dissolution cannot solve the problem," said Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who became the first casualty of the protests against the cabinet when he resigned as deputy prime minister on Tuesday.
"The problem can be solved by three institutions: the monarchy, which remains politically neutral, the military, which appears to be not interested in intervening, and the Government, which stays above the problem.
"So I see [the answer in] a putsch. After the military steps in, power should be immediately returned to the people and an interim government can be formed in which every party takes part," he told the paper.
The army has so far said it would not step in and stage another coup to end the turmoil.
The PAD launched its street campaign in late May, claiming the ruling People Power Party was running the nation on behalf of ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
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