REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANGKOK - The head of Thailand's protest movement on Tuesday extended his extraordinary claims to holding power over government activities, issuing orders to officials over whom he has no legal or actual authority.
Suthep Thaugsuban's latest move was bold, but bizarre. He turned the tables on his nemesis, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, saying his opposition group was ordering the prosecution of her on a charge of insurrection — a capital crime for which he himself has been charged for leading temporary occupations of government offices and urging civil servants to refuse to go to work.
The orders from Thaugsuban gave no clue as to how the deadlock over Thailand's political crisis may be resolved, but were likely to keep tensions high after violent clashes early last week between protesters and police.
There is widespread speculation that the military, which has staged about a dozen coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, may be the ultimate arbiter of power, but it insists it is neutral in the political struggle.
Yingluck said earlier Tuesday that she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2. Her opponents scorned her declaration and claimed they would appoint their own government in her place.
Yingluck spoke one day after she announced the elections — and one day after Suthep told his followers to stay in the streets and insisted his movement had more right to power than the elected government
The brazen claim — unbacked by law or control of any state institutions — has nonetheless been taken seriously by protesters and some Thai media.
The protesters want to oust Yingluck, accusing her of serving as a proxy for her billionaire brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields immense influence in the country.
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