29 March 2010 / AP, BANGKOK
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held direct talks on Sunday with leaders of anti-government protests to defuse deepening tensions, agreeing to their demand that the meeting be broadcast live on national television.
After weeks of demonstrations and fiery rhetoric that prompted Abhisit to seek refuge at an army base, the two sides sat across a conference table from each other and shook hands. They then reiterated their sharply different stances. “Our request is simple and direct: Dissolve Parliament for the people to decide again," said Veera Muksikapong, a protest leader. He was joined by two other protest leaders, all dressed in their signature red shirts. A tense-looking Abhisit -- accompanied by two advisers, all wearing blue shirts -- reiterated his position that dissolving Parliament immediately would not solve Thailand's deep political crisis. “I have to make a decision based on a consensus from the entire country, including the Red Shirts,” Abhisit said. “We have to think: Will dissolution really solve the problem?” Abhisit has repeatedly rejected the protesters' demands that he dissolve Parliament and call new elections. Thousands of protesters gathered in the historic heart of Bangkok awaiting direction from their leaders on how to respond if the talks failed. During more than two weeks of protests, the number of participants has peaked at more than 100,000. The protest movement consists largely of supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption, and pro-democracy activists who opposed the army takeover.
