STATE OF EMERGENCY
Media associations, academics and civic and human rights groups have stepped up calls for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign and demanded the state of emergency in Bangkok be lifted. In their joint statement, five media associations described the emergency decree as running counter to the constitution and limiting the rights and liberties of the public.
The media associations are the National Press Council of Thailand, the Confederation of Thai Journalists, the Thai Journalists Association, the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, and the Thailand Cable TV Association.
They said reporters at the scene of the clashes in the early hours of Tuesday confirmed that people linked to the ruling People Power party and a certain cabinet minister incited members of the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) into using force against supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
The media associations contended that the government staged the situation so it could justify invoking the emergency decree to deal with the PAD protesters.
They also urged the army chief to be careful in exercising his authority under the emergency decree, not to be manipulated by politicians and not to find an excuse to engineer another coup.
Lecturers at Chulalongkorn University's communication arts faculty signed a petition calling for the emergency rule to be lifted and urging the prime minister to resign or dissolve the House.
Doctors and medical staff at Chulalongkorn University's medical science faculty issued a statement condemning those behind the idea of applying excess force to quell peaceful demonstrations.
The government should show responsibility by resigning, they said.
The rector, deans and directors of institutes at Thammasat University called on the PAD and the UDD to not provoke each other or resort to violence.
They asked that the prime minister make sacrifices by dissolving the House.
The National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) said that the declaration of the state of emergency showed the government's intention to evade responsibility in solving the conflict.
The National Human Rights Commission said it disapproved of the invocation of the emergency rule and predicted the crisis would worsen under it.
The prime minister must either resign or dissolve the House, said Nida president Sombat Thamrongthanyawong.
The Campaign Committee for Human Rights criticised the government for failing to protect the safety of people.
The committee demanded the prime minister's resignation.
Social critic Sulak Sivaraksa said the only solution to the crisis is for the prime minister to step down, since he was no longer in control of the situation.
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