Prommin raises spectre of violence
A senior aide to the caretaker prime minister yesterday attacked the government's opponents for trying to revive street protests even as the government was trying to mend fences with them.
"Certain individuals are trying to provoke violence by organising street protests and it is clear they are trying to disturb the peace," secretary-general to caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Prommin Lertsuridej, said. Prommin singled out the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for acting against the royal advice on unity. "The government is striving to forge reconciliation with its opponents but the PAD is organising a mass rally in Chiang Mai," he said. The PAD and other anti-Thaksin campaigners must bear responsibility if violence erupts as a result of street protests, he said. He said the political discord should not be allowed to infest society, calling for the new election to take place in a speedy manner in order to put politics back on course. PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasila said the government was the real culprit in trying to provoke a violent confrontation. "Prommin is distorting facts by portraying the PAD in a bad light," he said. The PAD-organised rallies are peaceful and in line with the Constitution while the government has been relying on numerous intimidation tactics to incite hatred, he said. Government tactics included the dispatch of unruly people to disrupt the protests and the use of police power to harass the opponents, he said. "Prommin is an activist with first-hand experience from the 1976 October uprising, hence he should know that bloodshed happened because of suppression by the state," he said.
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