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Thai general election
Thailand’s anti-government protesters have resumed demonstrations in Bangkok demanding the resignation of PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
Large crowds carrying Thai flags marched along several routes from the main park in Bangkok.
It was the first major protest rally to take place since a Thai court ruled the February 2 general election invalid.
Until recently, Thailand had seen an ease in tensions since anti-government demonstrations began four months ago.
Anti-government activists want PM Yingluck Shinawatra to step down and the political system to be reformed.
At the height of the demonstrations, which began in November, protesters shut down key road junctions in Bangkok and blockaded government ministries.
Thailand’s anti-government activists want PM Yingluck Shinawatra to step down and the political system to be reformed
Saturday’s demonstrators, led by protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, marched from Bangkok’s Lumpini Park along six different routes through the city centre.
”We want to tell the government that the people don’t accept them anymore and the people really want reform of the country immediately,” Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters.
Suthep Thaugsuban warned the authorities against attempting to organize a re-run of the elections, saying any future poll would be boycotted.
The march comes a week after Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled the February 2 general election invalid.
Yingluck Shinawatra’s ruling party was expected to win the poll, but the opposition boycotted it and protesters disrupted voting, meaning the election has not been completed.
The protesters, who are mainly urban and middle class, want Yingluck Shinawatra’s government replaced by an unelected “people’s council”.
They accuse the Thai government of being run by PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s brother and ousted former leader, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Yingluck Shinawatra, who has dismissed calls to step down, is currently facing charges of negligence over a government rice subsidy scheme, which critics say was rife with corruption.
She is expected to submit her defense to the National Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday.
If found guilty, Yingluck Shinawatra could be removed from office and faces a five-year ban from politics.
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Thailand’s February 2 general election has been declared invalid by the country’s Constitutional Court.
The snap poll was called by PM Yingluck Shinawatra amid major anti-government protests in Bangkok.
The ruling party was expected to win, but the opposition boycotted it and protesters disrupted voting, meaning the election has not been completed.
The vote was unconstitutional because it did not take place on the same day across the country, the court said.
Polls were not held in a number of constituencies because protesters had blocked candidate registration.
Thailand’s February 2 general election has been declared invalid by the country’s Constitutional Court (photo AP)
Thailand’s Constitutional Court, which ruled to void the election by six votes to three, was responding to a motion by a law lecturer who had challenged the election on a number of points.
It is not clear when a new election will be held.
Thailand has been hit by anti-government protests since November 2013.
The protesters, who are mainly urban and middle class, want Yingluck Shinawatra’s government replaced by an unelected “people’s council”.
They allege her brother, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, controls her administration and say Shinawatra family money has corrupted Thai politics.
Yingluck Shinawatra and her ruling Pheu Thai party remain very popular in rural areas, however, leaving Thailand deeply polarized.
Thai voting has begun in five provinces that were unable to hold polls in last month’s general election because of anti-government protests.
No disturbances have so far been reported in Sunday’s ballot.
But the election commission said the situation was still too tense in many areas for polls to re-open.
Thailand has been in a political crisis since mass rallies began in November, with protesters calling for PM Yingluck Shinawatra to resign.
They want her government to be replaced by an unelected “people’s council” to reform the political system.
The opposition alleges that money politics have corrupted Thailand’s democracy and that Yingluck Shinawatra is controlled by her brother, ousted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile.
Yingluck Shinawatra leads a government that won elections in 2011 with broad support from rural areas
Protesters marched through Bangkok on Sunday, but there were no signs of voters being prevented from attending polling stations, as had been the case in early February.
“The polls are going peacefully – everything is under control and there are no problems,” a spokesman for the election commissioner said on Sunday.
However, the ballot will still leave too many parliamentary seats unfilled for a new government to be elected.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra is therefore stuck in a caretaker role, giving her cabinet very limited powers to govern.
On Friday, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban announced that demonstrators would end their occupation of central Bangkok in what was seen as a first sign of flexibility from the prime minister’s opponents.
Talks are also planned next week between representatives from both sides.
Yingluck Shinawatra leads a government that won elections in 2011 with broad support from rural areas. In response to the protests, she called snap elections on February 2, which her government was widely expected to win.
Thailand’s polls were boycotted by the opposition, and voting was disrupted by protesters at around 10% of polling stations.
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Thai government said it would ask the army to provide security for February’s elections, as the military called for restraint on both sides.
Thailand is facing increasingly violent protests, with two killed and dozens injured in recent days.
On Thursday, the Electoral Commission said the polls should be postponed to ensure the safety of candidates.
However, government officials said parliament was already dissolved so there was no legal reason for a delay.
Fighting broke out on Thursday at a stadium where election candidates were being registered.
A group of protesters, some throwing stones and evidently some who were armed, tried to break into the stadium.
One police officer and one protester were killed in the clashes.
Thailand is facing increasingly violent protests, with two killed and dozens injured in recent days
Deputy PM Surapong Tovichakchaikul said the government would ask the army to help secure candidate registrations on Saturday.
“I will also ask the military to provide security protection for members of the public on the 2 February elections,” he added in a televised address.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha did not address the government’s request.
Instead, he urged restraint on both sides and an end to street violence and said the army had shown “red traffic lights to both sides so things will calm down”.
When asked if the army would intervene, Prayuth Chan-ocha said: “That door is neither open nor closed.”
The army, which mounted a successful coup only seven years ago, remains a powerful player in Thai politics.
The army has staged several coups in the past, and ousted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who is also brother to current premier Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2006.
Yingluck Shinawatra called the snap election earlier this month, following weeks of protests.
However, the opposition Democrat party is boycotting the polls.
Yingluck Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai Party won the last election in 2011 and has a big majority in parliament.
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