Anti-government protesters have vowed to disrupt a February 2
election called by Yingluck in a bid to settle a crisis that has pitted
her government against Bangkok's conservative elite and middle class.
The
demonstrators have threatened to shut down Bangkok after the New Year,
with plans to block roads in up to 20 places, although the scope of
their protests has not always matched the promises made by their leader,
Suthep Thaugsuban.
Yingluck has not been in Bangkok for more than
a week, spending time among supporters in the north, but she used
social media to send a message seeking peace and reconciliation.
"On
the occasion of New Year 2014, may I ask all Thais to be united in
mind, to seek a blessing for the Thai people to love and harmonize and
for those who differ in views, be it their political ideology or belief,
to reconcile for a peaceful resolution for our nation," she said in a
Facebook post.
The demonstrators are determined to topple
Yingluck, who they see as a puppet of her self-exiled brother and former
premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Bangkok's normally gridlocked streets were mostly clear on Tuesday as people headed to the provinces for the holiday.
The
latest protests have flared into violence at several protest sites over
the past five days. At least eight people have been killed since they
began in late November.
On Thursday, a policeman and a protester
were killed when an unidentified gunman fired during chaotic clashes
outside an election registration centre.
Another protester was
killed by an unidentified gunman at another rally site in a pre-dawn
attack on Saturday. The Erawan Emergency Centre in Bangkok said another
protester had been taken to hospital suffering gunshot wounds to the
chest and arm after a shooting at a third site late on Monday.
WORRY ABOUT MILITARY INTERVENTION
The
violence is the latest in years of rivalry between Bangkok's middle
class and royalist establishment and the mostly poor, rural supporters
of Yingluck and Thaksin.
Even though her Puea Thai Party would
most likely win the election, Yingluck's position has become more
tenuous as the conflict drags on, with street violence opening the
possibility of intervention by the politicized military or judiciary.
That
became increasingly apparent last week, when the army chief declined to
rule out a coup. Thailand's military has launched or attempted 18 coups
in 81 years of fragile democracy, including Thaksin's 2006 overthrow.
The military has since sought to ease fears that yet another coup was imminent.
Most
of the protests have been centered in Bangkok, although demonstrators
have also blocked registration for the polls in seven provinces in the
south. The protesters and the main opposition Democrat Party, which has
declared it will boycott the poll, have many supporters in the south.
The
protesters say the wealthy Shinawatra family has effectively
manipulated Thailand's democracy by buying the support of the rural poor
with populist policies such as cheap healthcare and subsidies for rice
farmers.
Former telecoms tycoon Thaksin and his allies have won
every election since 2001. He fled into exile in 2008 before being
sentenced to jail on graft charges he said were politically motivated.
Yingluck's
party miscalculated badly in November when it tried to force through an
amnesty that would have allowed Thaksin to return a free man, sparking
the latest round of protests.
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