Thailand readies for more rallies as PM neglects their demand to resign

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha blatantly neglected the demands of the civilians to resign by Saturday, which has been anticipated to trigger a fresh wave of protests invoked by pro-democracy activists. 

The two major protest groups, Free Youth and the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration have pledged to process mass gatherings till the total demands are fulfilled which is inclusive of redrafting of the constitution and upgrading the reforms of the monarchy. As per Free Youth, a minimum of two protests are scheduled for Bangkok on Saturday and nine hit for other provinces.

The Thammasat group posted on Facebook, “If tonight passes and the government still ignores the demands of the people, we’ll step up the pressure so that these demands could come true.”

The government had taken the move of revoking the state of emergency in Bangkok, but still failed to satiate the protesters. Anucha Burapachaisri, government spokesperson said on Saturday a solution via the Parliamentary process was the most applicable as the elected law makers depict all sects of society.

A protest leader, Parit Chiwarak, who was again arrested in the week, spoke from jail that “if Prayuth wants to see the country move forward, he would need to resign.”

The protesters are demanding for rework on the constitution, which was formulated by military-appointed panel post the 2014 coup, highlighting its force in helping Pranuth hold its power in 2019 elections. Anucha said the issue will be a significant part of the discussions in the special parliament session.

On Saturday, the bail of five protesters including Parit was rejected by the court, as reported from the Thai Lawyers or Human Rights.