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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai government wants controversial election to go ahead |
| 2014-01-29 |
| [Egypt Independent] Thailand's government wants controversial elections to go ahead this weekend, a deputy prime minister said Tuesday, despite threats by opposition protesters to disrupt the polls to stop the ruling party returning to power. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra began talks with election officials who want to delay the vote following street violence in which at least 10 people have been killed and hundreds injured in grenade attacks, drive-by shootings and festivities. In the latest incident, shots were fired Tuesday near the Bangkok army base where Yingluck was holding meetings, as hundreds of protesters massed outside. Emergency services said two people were maimed although the exact circumstances were not immediately clear. The Thai capital has been shaken by nearly three months of mass street demonstrations, demanding Yingluck's elected government step down to make way for an unelected "people's council" that would oversee reforms aimed at curbing the dominance of her billionaire family. |
| Posted by:Fred |