The Cabinet yesterday acknowledged the need for the use of Army force against red-shirt pro-testers occupying the Rajprasong intersection, as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva grimly warned the public in his weekly address to expect undesired results from future government action.
A closed-door Cabinet meet-ing accepted a bigger role for armed troops who, since the "Black Saturday" drama on April 10, have still played mostly a sec-ondary role to police comman-dos.
"The government's action from now on will carry the risk of clashes or losses which could affect the feeling of the general public," Abhisit said. "But the government has its duty and will have to do what needs to be done."
It was Abhisit's first such pub-lic statement. He and other top officials yesterday reiterated the government's determination to reclaim the Rajprasong intersec-tion from the protesters. An SMS campaign will be launched to persuade as many demonstrators as possible to leave the area.
Abhisit said the government had made significant progress in inquiries into a series of inci-dents, which he said confirmed suspicion that some were acts of terrorism.
Yesterday's emergency Cabinet meeting followed an invasion of Chulalongkorn Hospital by some protesters that increased pressure on the gov-ernment to deal with the pro-longed rally.
"We want the operation to take place as soon as possible so we will do everything we can to ensure the least losses and maxi-mum safety for people involved," said acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn.
Panitan denied that the Cabinet discussed the possibility of impos-ing martial law in the area.
Sources said that the use of force had been allowed under the declared state of emergency, but Premier Abhisit still wanted to seek Cabinet endorsement.
"The prime minister wanted every step to be taken with trans-parency and clear-cut proce-dures," one source said.
According to the sources, there were questions and debate during the Cabinet meeting as to when troops would really act to reclaim the Rajprasong intersec-tion. Those responsible for secu-rity replied that troops would only act when "circumstances permit", with Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan being quoted as saying: "We can do it today, right now, but who will take responsibility if there is loss of life?"
Yesterday's emergency Cabinet meeting also discussed a long-term plan to overhaul the political system, government offi-cials said. A national road map is expected to be announced by the prime minister once it is com-pleted.
The road map brings together proposals and opinions from all relevant state agencies, private organisations as well as key social networks. "It will be announced when ready and |once it is announced, all state mecha-nisms will immediately begin implementation," Panitan said.
Meanwhile, Abhisit has coordi-nated with the Senate to allow a live broadcast of the Upper House's addresses on the politi-cal crisis that would cover recent violent incidents. However, the live broadcast by TV Channel 11, starting at 9.30am, will black out any replay of audio or video clips that could inflame the political situation.
Abhisit will take part in the Senate session along with the Defence minister, the Interior minister, the Justice minister, the Education minister, the ICT minister, the Public Health min-ister, the Foreign minister and PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtoey.