Protesters pledge coup anniversary march

Protesters pledge coup anniversary march

Groups will head to Government House on May 22 unless demands are met

warning signs: Demonstrators show signs against the National Council for Peace and Order during their rally at Thammasat University on Saturday.
warning signs: Demonstrators show signs against the National Council for Peace and Order during their rally at Thammasat University on Saturday.

Anti-regime groups have announced that they will march to Government House on May 22 unless the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) quits power and calls an election this year.

In a protest titled "No-confidence Market: Stop the NCPO Regime, Stop Delaying the Election" at Thammasat University's Tha Prachan campus yesterday, the demonstrators -- known as "People who want an election" -- insisted the general election must be held by November this year as earlier announced by prime minister and chief of the NCPO Prayut Chan-o-cha.

In addition, the NCPO must step down from power before the run-up to an election to ensure people's freedom to vote as they please.

Democracy Restoration Group (DRG) leader Rangsiman Rome also called on the military to withdraw its support for the NCPO.

"Unless pledges are made to meet these three demands, we will march to visit Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House," he said.

May 22 marks the fourth anniversary of the military coup in which the NCPO seized power from Yingluck Shinawatra's Pheu Thai government.

Meanwhile, Start Up People leader Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwat said an election is impossible with the NCPO still in place.

"The door is still locked. The NCPO should lift the political ban so that political parties can prepare for the elections," he said.

Protesters released a large banner with the message "May22 @ Government House" carried by balloons with pictures of Gen Prayut with a long nose -- a nod to the fictional character of Pinnochio whose nose grows longer every time he told a lie.

Pol Col Jakkrit Chosungnoen, chief of the Chana Songkhram police station, said the activities were not considered to be a political assembly, rather just a collection of speeches at a campus market fair.

He said 75 plain-clothes police officers kept security within the campus area, while 75 police dressed in uniforms had been deployed outside with 450 more officers on standby.

He said about 350 people had attended the event.

Prior to the protesters' activities, government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd yesterday said Gen Prayut considered these protests no different from the ones which have gone before.

"So far we have talked and tried to make sure that there is no impact on the people. [The protesters] have the right of expression, but they must not cause trouble to society. People nowadays want to see peace and order in the country and move toward the election according to the schedule. All sides should keep this in mind," Lt Gen Sansern quoted the PM as saying.

Meanwhile, he said Gen Prayut was preparing to exercise his special powers allowed under Section 44 of the previous interim charter to speed up the implementation of various areas of national reform as the election draws near.

"The prime minister is ready to provide additional support for five urgent issues, or 'quick wins', that, when implemented, will yield visible results in the eight months leading up to an election," Lt Gen Sansern said.

The five core areas of reform are: overhauling the public sector to achieve improvement in public services; efforts to generate income and improve the quality of life of the people; improving corruption suppression mechanisms; decreasing disparity in society and encouraging and supporting more public participation in democracy, the spokesman said.

As part of this drive to speed up reform, PM's Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool suggested that legalising the growing and trading of precious wood, such as teak and Siamese rosewood, for commercial purposes would require amendments to Section 7 of the 1941 Forest Act.

He was speaking after chairing the first meeting of the Committees of the National Reform Steering Assembly on Friday.

The legal amendments will take about six months to be completed, which he thought was too long, hence Section 44 would accelerate the process, he said.

The committee will decide next week which other projects in the government's list of urgent reform areas will also require the Section 44 special power to speed up implementation, he said.

The five core areas of the reform are being treated as a priority, he said.

The plan to legalise precious wood growing and trading falls in the second area of the reform which basically deals with efforts to generate income and improve the quality of life of the people.

The cabinet is expected to approve draft amendments to the laws concerned before the government can move forward in its plan to allow about 20,000 communities to grow these types of precious wood for sale in a total area of 10 million rai.

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