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Thai revolt: Ex-deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban takes on Yingluck Shinawatra
Sydney Morning Herald - November 30, 2013
"People ask me why I am doing this," Suthep Thaugsuban told his supporters who see him as their firebrand hero who has emerged to lead a high stakes struggle to change Thailand's political system. "But if we don't try to break the law, how can we get victory?"
Critics say Suthep, an old-school political powerbroker, is leading tens of thousands of usually law-abiding people down an illegal and dangerous path that could end in violence and even, some fear, civil war.
It is a dramatic transformation for the former prawn and palm-oil magnate from southern Surat Thani who was first elected to parliament in 1979 and served in cabinet as communications minister and twice as deputy agriculture minister.
Only a few years ago, Suthep was the suit-and-tie wearing deputy prime minister and secretary-general of the ruling Democrat Party, one of the country's oldest political institutions.
In 2010, he authorised a crackdown by security forces that left at least 90 people dead, more than 2000 injured and parts of Bangkok burning. Back then, it was supporters of his arch-rival Thaksin Shinawatra who were on the streets protesting against the Democrat-led government.
But now, 3 1/2 years later, Thailand's destructive cycle of politics has reversed and Suthep is the street provocateur aiming to bring down the administration of Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra, the Prime Minister.
"Make them see this as people's power," Suthep told his supporters this week before ordering them to occupy important government ministries across Bangkok and provincial centres around the country to cripple the workings of government. "Go to every floor, go into every room, but do not destroy anything," he said.
As public servants fled their offices in departments including finance, interior and foreign affairs, Suthep shrugged off a warrant for his arrest on charges of inciting illegal assembly and invading government offices that could have him jailed for up to eight years. "Come and get me another time," he said. "I am busy."
Suthep mocked 46-year-old Yingluck, saying she could not use force against him as he had done against Thaksin supporters in 2010, even if she tried.
"I believe Yingluck doesn't have the authority to order the police or military to do anything," Suthep told reporters at the finance ministry where he set up temporary headquarters.
"They've realised she's a prime minister who doesn't obey the law," he said, referring to unproven claims of corruption and abuse of power.
Suthep's mantra is the destruction of the "Thaksin regime", portraying Yingluck as a puppet of her brother who is living in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail sentence for corruption. But he says he will not stop even if Yingluck dissolves parliament and calls a snap election, which she would probably win.
He wants the parliament controlled by Yingluck's Pheu Thai party to be suspended and replaced with a "people's assembly" directly elected by the public, ending alleged rampant vote-buying that he claims has helped Thaksin win every election in the past decade.
Suthep's campaign has been crafted to capitalise on the long-held hatred of Thaksin among the upper and middle class in Bangkok that was reignited in October by a failed amnesty bill that would have allowed his return without going to jail.
Early this month, Suthep and eight other Democrat MPs resigned from parliament so they could lead the campaign unencumbered by parliamentary or party constraints. Suthep is a wily and consummate politician who portrays himself as an advocate for dispossessed rubber plantation farmers in the south.
A leaked US diplomatic cable from 2008 described him as a "backroom deal-maker" who "maintains contacts in all camps, including the military". Suthep denies he is acting with the support of Thailand's military, which has staged 18 coups or attempted coups since the country became a democracy in 1932.
He started his career at the age of 26 as a village headman in Surat Thani with the rare qualification of a master's degree in political science from Middle Tennessee State University in the US.
In 1995, he was accused of giving land rights to the wealthy under a reform scheme intended for the poor. He denied the accusation but resigned from parliament. The scandal led to then-prime minister Chuan Leekpai dissolving parliament instead of facing a no-confidence vote.
Just a few years later, Thaksin would sweep into power with the support of rural masses.
Suthep later returned to parliament, serving a total of 35 years before resigning again in October this year because, he claimed, the Yingluck administration was whitewashing the wrongdoings of former Thaksin regimes.
"I have never thought I would end my... career on the road. But once I resigned as an MP, there was no going back," he says.
Earlier this year, Suthep and former Democrat prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva were charged with murder over the 2010 bloodshed. He has set up a law firm with up to 30 lawyers to act for him as well as defend others facing similar charges.
"I will fight the bad guys through the legal process," he says, promising to continue fighting until he "uproots the Thaksin regime".
This week, Yingluck offered to meet Suthep for talks but he quickly rejected the offer, declaring "our goal is that there must be no more Thaksin regime in Thailand". He said he planned to escalate the protests.
How long the protests last appear to depend a lot on the stamina of Suthep, who on Wednesday led 10,000 followers on a 20-kilometre trek across Bangkok to a government complex where they camped out in the grounds.
He had been acting independently of opposition MPs for weeks but his former Democrat colleagues sent members to join his protests on Friday and run parallel anti-Thaksin campaigns.
"The prime minister must step aside," Abhisit says. "By doing that, society will find a solution for the country."
Suthep admits he doesn't know what the outcome of his campaign will be but insists he is not afraid, even if he is jailed, injured or killed. "The day I am killed will be the last day the government is in power," he says. (with agencies)
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