Thai PM offers to dissolve parliament by year end, but anti-govt protesters reject compromise

Thai PM offers to dissolve parliament by year end

BANGKOK — Thailand’s prime minister offered Monday to dissolve parliament by the end of the year, but protesters demanding he step down did not immediately accept the compromise, which could have helped resolve the country’s political crisis.

The Red Shirt protesters — formally known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship — have been holding street demonstrations in the Thai capital for the past two weeks to demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva carry out a parliament dissolution so new polls can be held.

“For the sake of the people, you should make way,” said Jatuporn Prompan, one of the three protest leaders at the second day of nationally televised talks between the two sides. “People would honor you and remember you for your sacrifice.”

The Red Shirts are calling on Abhisit to take action within 15 days, but seemed to express some willingness to extend their deadline.

There were no agreements reached Monday, and even the question of further meetings was left in limbo.

“The negotiations with the government have come to an end. But just how we’d move on from here, I would have to discuss this with my people,” Jatuporn told reporters afterward.

The different Red Shirt leaders often express different positions, and sometimes have proven more willing to compromise than their rhetoric suggests.

Monday’s meeting, which lasted two hours, began on a more combative note than Sunday’s initial talks, with representatives of the two sides pointing fingers and interrupting each other.

“The current climate is marred with tension and violent tendencies,” said Abhisit, in what appeared to be a reference to several unexplained nonfatal grenade attacks around Bangkok in recent days. “One of my concerns is that, as prime minister, I need to create a favorable climate for elections. I have to also consider the opinions of the greater public — who do not necessarily align with particular colors.”

The Red Shirts’ rivals, the People’s Alliance for Democracy, are known as the Yellow Shirts. Founded in 2006 to oppose the government of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Yellow Shirts announced Monday that they opposed Abhisit’s talks — adding another layer of complication to the standoff.

Thaksin, who has since been convicted in absentia on corruption charges, was ousted in a September 2006 military coup after months of rallies by the Yellow Shirts.

Abhisit said he wanted time for his government to carry out such tasks as passing a new budget. But taking action at the end of the year would also allow him to oversee the annual reshuffle of the military, which often interferes in politics.

The Red Shirts believe that Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional ruling class and that only new elections can restore integrity to Thai democracy.

The movement consists largely of Thaksin supporters from the country’s poor, rural heartland and pro-democracy activists who opposed the 2006 army takeover. Its leaders have portrayed the demonstrations as a struggle between Thailand’s impoverished, mainly rural masses — who benefited from Thaksin policies of cheap health care and low-interest village loans — and a Bangkok-based elite insensitive to their plight.

More than two weeks of protests have drawn some 100,000 people to increasingly confrontational rallies against Abhisit’s government, prompting travel warnings from three dozen countries.

While both sides have vowed to remain nonviolent, the recent string of nonfatal attacks have unnerved Bangkok.

Sunday night, one person was wounded when a bomb exploded near the home of a former prime minister, gunfire struck a bank branch, and a tent that served food to protesters was burned down.

A dozen soldiers and four civilians were wounded in weekend blasts at the army base serving as Abhisit’s office and at two state-run TV stations.

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.