• Burmese
Friday, June 13, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Tearful Thai PM Yingluck Asks Protesters to Take Part in Election

Amy Sawitta Lefevre by Amy Sawitta Lefevre
December 10, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Tearful Thai PM Yingluck Asks Protesters to Take Part in Election

Democracy protesters march from Bangkok’s Democracy monument to Government House on Monday in what protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said was their last protest. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)|Democracy protesters march from Bangkok’s Democracy monument to Government House on Monday in what protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said was their last protest. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)|A man gestures during the protest march to Government House. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)|A protester leads a large group of demonstrators to Government House in Bangkok. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)| With the removal of razor wire and substantial barricades

4.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

BANGKOK — Her eyes welling with tears, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded on Tuesday for anti-government demonstrators to clear the streets and support a snap election, but defiant protest leaders called for her to step down within 24 hours.

After weeks of sometimes violent street protests, protesters rejected her call on Monday for a general election and said she should be replaced by an unelected “people’s council,” a proposal that has stoked concern Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy may abandon its democratic process.

Yingluck said she would continue her duties as caretaker prime minister until the election, which is expected on Feb. 2.

RelatedPosts

Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

June 13, 2025
149
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

June 13, 2025
225
Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

June 13, 2025
138

“Now that the government has dissolved parliament, I ask that you stop protesting and that all sides work toward elections,” she told reporters.

“I have backed down to the point where I don’t know how to back down any further,” Yingluck said, with tears in her eyes. She quickly composed herself.

An estimated 3,000 protesters camped out overnight around Government House, where Yingluck’s office is located, a day after 160,000 protesters converged peacefully on the complex in one of Bangkok’s largest protests in memory.

They made no attempt to get into the grounds, which appeared to be defended by unarmed police and soldiers. The crowd could swell again on Tuesday, a public holiday in Thailand for Constitution Day.

The protesters want to oust Yingluck and eradicate the influence of her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by the military in 2006 and has chosen to live in exile rather than serve a jail term for abuse of power.

This is the latest flare-up in almost a decade of rivalry between forces aligned with the Bangkok-based establishment and those who support Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon who won huge support in the countryside with pro-poor policies.

In a late-night speech to supporters massed around Government House on Monday, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban gave Yingluck 24 hours to step down.

“Suthep has asked the prime minister and the government to step down from their duties,” said Akanat Promphan, a spokesman for the protest group.

“We want the government to step aside and create a power vacuum in order to create a people’s council,” he said, adding protesters would camp near the prime minister’s offices for three days.

Lawmakers from the main opposition Democrat Party resigned from parliament en masse on Sunday, saying they could not work with Yingluck. Its leaders have refused to be drawn on whether they would participate in the election.

In April 2006, amid mass protests against Thaksin, the pro-establishment Democrats refused to contest a snap election he had called. He was deposed by the military five months later.

Aware that the allies of Yingluck and Thaksin would almost certainly win any election, Suthep has called for a “people’s council” of appointed “good people” to replace the government.

In another speech on Monday, he called Yingluck’s government incompetent and corrupt for policies such as a costly rice intervention scheme and said the people would select a new prime minister. He did not say how that would be done or how he planned to take over the levers of power.

Suthep was dismissive of the early election. “The dissolving of parliament is not our aim,” he told Reuters.

His campaign opens up the prospect of a minority of Thailand’s 66 million people dislodging a democratically elected leader, this time without help from the military.

The politically powerful army, which has staged or attempted 18 coups in the past 80 years, has said it does not want to get involved, although it has tried to mediate.

Thaksin is widely seen as the power behind his sister’s government. The protests were sparked last month by a government bid to introduce an amnesty that would have expunged his conviction and allowed him to return home a free man.

Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party won the last election in 2011 by a landslide, enjoying widespread support in the north and northeast, Thailand’s poorest regions. She will be its candidate for prime minister if the party wins in February.

Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak.

Your Thoughts …
Amy Sawitta Lefevre

Amy Sawitta Lefevre

Reuters

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.3k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.3k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.8k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.6k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post

Visiting Laos President ‘Reaffirms Support’ for Burma’s Democratization

Burma’s Men Beat East Timor in SEA Games Football

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

4 days ago
1.4k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
919

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • High-Level Ministerial Meeting Held to Speed Up Preparations for Myanmar Junta’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.