Democrat Party: Statement Regarding 2013-14 Protests

8/13/2019 Democrat Party: Statement Regarding 2013-14 Protests

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Subject : A factual account on the current People's Uprising in Thailand

Dear All,

With regard to the ongoing People's Uprising in Thailand and related

occurrences of violent incidents during the past three months. The Democrat

Party of Thailand deems it necessary to explain to the domestic and the

international community the facts on the violent incidents and the

administrative style of the government under the leadership of Ms. Yingluck

Shinawatra over the past 2 years that triggered the massive uprising of the

people as follows:-

1. The targets of violent acts have been the members of the People's

Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and of the Student and People Network

for Thailand's Reform (STR) - as well as innocent protesters and volunteer

guards. Violent acts that took place are :-

1.1. Hand grenades thrown at the volunteer guards in front of the

Ministry of Finance on 6 December 2013.

1.2. The house of a PDRC leader, Mr. Satit Wongnongtoey was shot at.

1.3. The breaking of glass windows at the house of Miss Anchalee

Paireerak, another key PDRC member.

1.4. The sniper attacks from a building close to the demonstration area

near the Thai - Japanese Stadium on 26 December 2013, which resulted in 2

deaths and several injuries.

1.5. On 17 January 2014, a hand grenade was thrown at the

demonstrators marching along the Bantadtong road behind the SupachalasaiSports Stadium and killed one demonstrator and several injured.

1.6. Most recently, on 19 January 2014, a hand grenade was thrown at

protesters gathering at the Victory Monument resulting in 28 protesters and

journalists been injured.

1.7. The violence has also been used against members and property of

the Democrat Party, namely;

- gunshots were fired at the residence of Mr. Chuan Leekpai, former


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Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Party on 31

December 2013,

- gunshots at the Democrat Party's Headquarters on 13 January2014.

- A hand grenade was thrown into the house of Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva,Leader of the Democrat Party on 14 January 2014.

It is to be recalled that the intimidation and violence were used on the

Democrat Party even before the beginning of the demonstration led by the

PDRC. At more than 60 public rallies and stage-talks 'Truth without Colours'

held by the Democrat Party during the past 2 years, members of the Red Shirt

Movement often obstructed entrances or surrounded the areas in a

threatening manner with abusive use of language. Sometimes sling shots were

used to attack attendants.

It can be seen that all of the above-mentioned intimidation and

violence, be them against the members of PDRC, the STR or the personnel and

property of the Democrat Party, were solely aimed at those who oppose the

current government. So far the law enforcement authorities have not been

able to arrest the culprits or prevent any recurrences of such violent acts.

2. The Puea Thai Government under the leadership of Prime Minister

Yingluck Shinawatra is the most corrupted government in the Thai history, both

in terms of the number of projects formulated to enable systematic corruption

and the amount of money concerned. An example of these corrupted projects

is the Rice Mortgage Scheme, the Phue Thai Partys flagship election campaign

project. Now that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has

pressed corruption charges against those involved in the implementation of

this scheme, the international community has started to realize how corrupted

Ms Yinglucks government is. The NACC has also started an investigation on

Prime Minister Yinglucks involvement in this scheme as the chairperson of the

National Rice Committee on grounds that her negligence to stop the corruption

under the scheme has caused the country tremendous loss.

3. The Puea Thai Government under the leadership of Prime Minister

Yingluck Shinawatra, keeps on repeating and insisting on having the mandate


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from the majority of voters with the election victory. But it has abused its legal

power and ignored the spirit and principle of democracy continuously.

The government attempted to pass draft amnesty bill in the parliament

to exonerate their Red Shirt supporters from all criminal charges on theirviolent protests in 2010. They also tried to amend the Constitution (B.E. 2550)

regarding the composition of the Senate and the draft amendment was ruled

by the Constitutional Court as unconstitutional. The procedure to consider the

draft amendment in the Parliament was also found unlawful by the Court.

There were evidences of some unethical and unlawful electronic voting such as

voting on behalf of absentee colleagues.

Furthermore, the Speaker of the Parliament denied the rights of the 51MPs from the opposition party to debate the draft, which violated Article 68 of

the Constitution. After the Courts verdict, the Puea Thai Party declared its

rejection of the Courts judgment, despite the judgment being legally binding

on the parliament and the government. By rejecting the jurisdiction and the

verdict of the independent court that was established to hold the executive and

legislative branches of the Government accountable, the Puea Thai party and

the government have lost the legitimacy to govern this democratic nation.

In summary, the 3 aforementioned facts, which show that the

Government has condoned violence and intimidation against their opposition,

facilitated systematic corruption and unlawfully abuses the power that they

legitimately gained through democratic elections for personal interests, are the

main reasons why the people have taken to the street to protest against this

Government. Since Prime Minister Yingluck has intentionally given interviews

that are the complete opposite of the truth to both local and international

press, the Democrat Party feels obliged to issue this statement to offer accurate

account of the current situation.

Democrat Party of Thailand

January 2014

Documents

Democrat Party: Statement Regarding 2013-14 Protests