THAILAND/ENGLAND: Ousted Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra calls for swift elections as country bounces back two days after a bloodless coup

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on Thursday (September 21) for swift general elections in Thailand where army coup leaders have banned political party meetings and "political activities". Thaksin, in a statement from London two days after he was removed in a bloodless coup, urged all parties to work for national reconciliation "for the sake of our King and country." "He hopes the new regime will quickly arrange a new general election and continue to uphold the principles of democracy for the future of all Thai," said the statement handed to reporters outside the London apartment where Thaksin is staying. It said the billionaire telecoms tycoon, who won two landslide elections before facing an anti-corruption street campaign a year ago, would take a deserved rest. Thaksin made no comment to reporters as he left the apartment with his daughter in London's posh Park Lane. In Bangkok, the coup leaders tightened restrictions on political parties, but gave no sense of how long they would last. "To ensure the constitutional monarchy is functioning after reforms have been completed, the Council for Democratic Reform Under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) has ordered political parties to halt all meetings and political activities," it said. In the same order, read out on television, the coup leaders banned the formation of new parties. No more details were given. Thailand has been under martial law since a coup on Tuesday (September 19) night. An earlier order banned political gatherings of more than five people as well as free distribution of information critical of the coup on Web sites or on television. The military said it was forced to stage Tuesday's coup because there was no other way out of a political crisis that pitted Thaksin against the old guard and street campaigners. The coup leaders said they would craft a constitution within a year to repair flaws that Thaksin was accused of exploiting to wield near-dictatorial powers, then hold an election. Thailand was largely back at work on Thursday after the military declared Wednesday a public holiday. Bangkok traffic returned to the familiar near-gridlock, while coup leaders worked on fulfilling a promise of installing a civilian prime minister within two weeks. "It is one of the solutions and perhaps it's working now but I don't know if it's the best solution. But it's as good as it's possible for now," said Arunee Krongphanich, a 45-year-old Bangkok resident. "This is good because there has been too much conflict so now we can see there's going to be a general elections," said Boonmi Ohlanuwut, a 69-year-old Bangkok resident. The stock market ended the day down 1.42 percent after falling more than 4 percent in the first minutes, in the end a far less precipitous drop than had been feared. Traders said a royal proclamation legitimising the military government went a long way to reassuring investors after Thailand's first coup in 15 years but its 18th since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. At a securities firm in Bangkok's Chinatown, Thai investors kept their eyes on stock indexes as they anxiously waited for trade to open for the first time after Wednesday was declared a market holiday. Despite stocks taking a tumble early on, most were cheered when numbers started to climb soon after. "It's fallen a lot already, it'll go up later. No worries, no worries," said 80-year-old retiree Suthep Jirasirlikul. Analysts had said any sell off was likely to be limited as the coup generated hopes of an end to a long political crisis. In particular, the markets had been reassured by the coup leaders announcing a timetable for a return to civilian rule -- a new prime minister within two weeks, a new constitution within a year and then elections. With the coup relatively peaceful, the Thai economy too will likely continue to progress reasonably well, business risk consultant Christopher Bruton told Reuters. But Bruton cautioned that with the coup, the credibility of Thailand has taken a beating internationally especially since a democratic process was taking place with a general elections pending. So investors' eyes will be on who forms the next government, he told Reuters. "It depends on who they appoint to be the interim prime minister and what he does when he is appointed. Will he simply see his role as an interim situation to amend yet again the constitution to close to a 20th time, or will he see it as an opportunity to bring about reforms in the legal, the economic and governmental systems," he said. On Wednesday evening, Sonthi gained a boost in legitimacy among Thais when it was announced that revered Thai king has endorsed his appointment. "Therefore, in the interest of order in the country, a Royal Appointment was therefore made for General Sonthi Boonyaratglin to be leader of the the Political Reform Council under the Constitutional Monarchy from now on," a newscaster for army-run Ch 5 had read in a televised statement. Soon after Tuesday's coup, the leaders had sought to reassure the public that they would craft within a year a constitution to repair flaws Thaksin was accused of exploiting to wield near dictatorial powers, then hold an election. But the leader of the largest Thai opposition party told Reuters that despite their assurances, coup leaders still had to prove they were not intending to hold onto power. "We think the process can be speeded up but at least we're encouraged to hear that they do not intend to hold on to power, and that they're job is really to put the country on the democratic path, but they have to prove it, and they have to prove it as quickly as possible," said Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party. Abhisit said an ideal time to hold an election would be in six months. Abhisit also urged the generals to lift restrictions on individual rights. Bank of Thailand governor Pridiyathorn Devakula told reporters the economy would improve after the coup and said that the stock market performance reflected investor confidence. But the outlook was mixed. Moody's Investor Service reaffirmed Thailand's ratings and stable outlook on Thursday. But Morgan Stanley cut its annual economic growth forecast for the second half of the year to 2.4 percent from 3.5 percent.

ITN Source | September 21, 2006

Tags:. .legitimising. .interim. .landslide. .sake. .ousted