Edging closer to the brink
- Published: 7/04/2009 at 02:00 PM
- Online news: Local News
Judgement day is due Wednesday as the red-shirt protesters appear determined to bring the government down to its knees while the government is confident that situation will not spill out of control. But a general sense of apprehension prevails among the public.
BangkokPost.com
by Veera Prateepchaikul
A sense of general apprehension appears to have gripped the nation as it watches anxiously what will happen next when the red-shirt protesters stage what they claim to be their biggest ever rally Wednesday to force for political changes with the resignation of the government and Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda as the priority targets.
The protest organiser, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship , has predicted that the D-Day rally would attract as many as 300,000 protesters in Bangkok alone. Elsewhere in other parts of the country, similar rally is to be staged in front of respective provincial hall in a show of the red-shirt force in coordination with the main protest in the capital.
Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who has been directing the protest from abroad through his almost nightly video-link communication with his supporters appears to be in no mood for peace talk since he has spurned the government's overture for negotiation to end the political impasse. On the contrary, he has repeatedly urged his red-shirt supporters to rise up against the government and what he contemptously described as the bureaucratic polity which he also wants to be changed. Despite his repeated calls for the restoration of what he called real democracy, it is obvious that the struggle is nothing about democracy but political changes that will suit his ultimate objectives which are his safe return home for a political comeback free from all charges and the return of his frozen assets.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjava, in his nation-wide television address Monday, appeared to be confident that the situation is under control and that it is not necessary for the government to declare a state of emergency in dealing with the protesters. But while assuring that the government will not resort to force against the protesters, the prime minister urged the UDD to refrain from any actions deemed endangering national security and the country's key institutions. He also stated clearly that he would not allow the conflict to develop into a civil war or a bloodbath.
While it remains to be seen whether the UDD will be able to mobilise up to 300,000 protesters in today's rally as claimed, the protest leaders and Mr Thaksin should know better that such a huge crowd is not easy to control and things can turn ugly if they are repeatedly worked up by firey or hate speeches. In the past, the UDD leaders have been successful in keeping their protests peaceful. But this time however they must try harder to do the job for they must be held accountable if anything goes wrong intentionally or by an accident.
For the time being, the chance of a last-minute talk or an intervention by someone charismatic enough to convince Mr Thaksin to the negotiable table seems to be out of the question. It appears that the exiled ex-premier is out on his do-or-die war in total disregard of the dire consequences that will befall on the country as a whole and on himself should the situation spills out of control.
As the country edges closer to the brink, it is hoped that common sense prevails among all the key players, especially Mr Thaksin, in this potentially explosive brinkmanship game. But Mr Thaksin has the power to make a difference. It is simply a choice of being a hero coming to the country's rescue in a time of extreme despair or a villain to be condemned for years to come for the resulting ruins from the conflict.
