Hundreds vow to keep fighting to bring real democracy to the country
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 22:25
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Democracy Monument on Wednesday night to vent their anger over the end of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become prime minister.
The largely peaceful rally followed a dramatic day in parliament, where Mr Pita lost his MP status after the Constitutional Court ordered him suspended pending a ruling. After he left the chamber, lawmakers voted not to allow him to be nominated for prime minister a second time.
Some of the crowds that had rallied near parliament earlier in the day made their way to Democracy Monument at around 5pm. They were joined by others who wrapped a large cloth banner reading “Prime Minister Pita of People’s Consensus” around the monument.
Somyos Pruksakasemsuk, leader of the June 24 Democracy Movement, took the stage to open the rally by urging demonstrators to throw the full weight of their support behind Mr Pita.
He criticised dictators and feudal attitudes for destroying the rights and liberties of people. People’s hopes of seeing the Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties — with 25 million votes between them — forming a government had faded away.
Now, Move Forward was probably being forced to sit in the opposition camp, said Mr Somyos.
The Constitutional Court, he said, had become a mechanism to kill governments that came from democracy. However, those who staged coups walked free.
“From now on, we have to keep fighting in all forms — to knock on doors of senators’ houses or ring the bells at their houses to remind them to give their gratitude to the motherland by turning over a new leaf,” he said.
“The battle will not be about the Move Forward Party, but it is about people who cast their ballots in the (May 14) general election. We must join hands to take steps against the so-called independent organisations and ‘invisible hands’. The battle across the country starts today at Democracy Monument.”
As the evening wore on, crowds occupied more of the streets around the monument. Speakers on the stage railed against the behaviour of the junta-appointed senators who blocked Mr Pita’s candidacy, and at the Constitutional Court’s suspension order.
Human rights lawyer Anon Nampa and other pro-democracy activists urged the demonstrators to be witnesses to ensure that the Pheu Thai Party, which will now attempt to form a government, must not betray people by joining with other parties now in opposition.
Participants also performed a mock funeral for the unelected senators, complete with a coffin and cremation.
The protesters read a statement that outlined three demands: for the senators to resign, the eight parties in the coalition to stick together tightly, and for the coalition not to abandon the policy proposals promised to the people.
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday morning suspended the MFP leader from duty as an elected member of the House over his shareholding in the defunct media company iTV Plc.
The suspension was announced as the elected House and the appointed Senate were sitting in joint session to elect the country’s 30th prime minister.
With the failure to even call a vote on Wednesday, the next session to choose a prime minister has been scheduled for July 27.
A banner is wrapped around Democracy Monument during a protest on Wednesday evening following the rejection by parliament of an attempt to nominate Pita Limjaroenrat a second time for prime minister. (Photo: AFP)
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