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                        Thai PM: No Delay for Elections

   by VOA News

   Thailand's government has announced that early
   elections will be held as planned on February 2, despite an opposition
   boycott and three days of anti-government protests in the
   capital.<br /> <br /> The
   announcement followed a meeting between cabinet members and caretaker
   Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. She said the government has no
   authority to postpone the vote, as the election commission had
   proposed.<br /> <br />
   Opposition protest leaders refused to attend the Wednesday meeting, and
   insist that no vote should be held until reforms are made and Yingluck
   resigns.<br /> <br /> The
   situation may become more serious as night falls, as one of the more
   hardline factions of the protest movement has threatened to take over
   the offices of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, which coordinates
   aircraft control services for domestic and international flights in
   Thai airspace, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, unless Yingluck
   steps down by 8 pm local time. In 2008, anti-Thaksin protesters
   occupied both of Bangkok's airports, damaging the
   country's critical tourism industry.<br
   /> <br /> Meanwhile, protesters
   marched in Bangkok for a third straight day following overnight reports
   of small-scale violence.<br /> <br
   /> Security officials say a man and woman suffered minor
   injuries in an early morning shooting near an upscale shopping district
   where the protesters have set up camp.<br />
   <br /> Authorities are also investigating a
   possible overnight attack on the home of prominent opposition leader
   and former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Police say a small
   explosive device, possibly a large firework, was thrown onto the
   property of Abhisit, causing minor damage to the roof. He was not home
   at the time and no one was injured.<br />
   <br /> The unrest threatened to change the mood
   of the festival-like protests, which have largely failed at their goal
   of shutting down the capital and government business.<br
   /> <br /> Protest leader Suthep
   Thaugsuban said Wednesday he is not putting a timeframe on the
   demonstrations, saying they will last as long as necessary in order to
   force Yingluck from power.<br /> <br
   /> Yingluck has repeatedly said she has a constitutional
   duty to stay on as prime minister, insisting only cooperation and
   dialogue can resolve the country's months-long
   political deadlock.<br /> <br
   /> She has already dissolved parliament, called for the
   early elections on February 2, and proposed the formation of a national
   reform council as a way to resolve the crisis.<br
   /> <br /> Suthep has called for a
   non-elected "people's
   council" to replace the current government and
   implement reforms to end corruption and money politics before any new
   vote takes place.<br /> <br
   /> Analysts think the prime minister's
   ruling Pheu Thai party is likely to win next month's
   snap election, which the main opposition Democrat party plans to
   boycott.<br /> <br /> The
   opposition views Yingluck as a puppet of her brother, former prime
   minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup,
   convicted of corruption and now lives in self-imposed exile.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/no-delay-for-thailand-elections-pm/18
   30397.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/no-delay-for-thailand-elections-pm/1830397.html