| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Thai PM meets red shirts |
| 2010-03-29 |
| [Straits Times] THAI Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva sat down yesterday in face-to-face talks with three red shirt leaders, in an abrupt reversal of his earlier position. But the hastily arranged talks, which were televised 'live', ended inconclusively with both sides still cordial but refusing to yield any ground. The talks are scheduled to continue later today. Mr Abhisit agreed to the talks after the red shirts, who had staged more than two weeks of peaceful rallies in the capital, stepped up their actions on Saturday, forcing the army to withdraw troops confronted by unarmed crowds. 'House dissolution can only happen if we see it is not only the way out for"the reds but also for the whole country,' he told the three leaders of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which is demanding fresh elections. But as the three hours of talks ended, red shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan told Mr Abhisit: 'We ask you to dissolve the House within two weeks. Whatever your decision should be, if we talk tomorrow, I want you to consider this condition.' He added: 'If you are confident of winning an election, you should return power to the people.' |
| Posted by:Fred |