Thesun 2009-04-15 Page08 Thai Protester End

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theSun

| WEDNESDAY APRIL 15 2009

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poll, with reports of incomplete voter lists and delays in distributing ballot papers across the archipelago’s 6,000 inhabited islands. The Election Supervisory Body said it had received more than 1,000 complaints of irregularities surrounding Thursday’s vote. It was only the third general election in Indonesia since the fall of strongman Suharto in 1998. The poll has kicked off intense talks between political parties hoping to form coalitions ahead of presidential elections in July. A party or coalition must have 20% of seats in the lower house or 25% of the national vote to nominate a presidential candidate. The PDI-P of ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri – Yudhoyono’s chief rival in the presidential race – gained an estimated 14.33% of the vote and Golkar, of the outgoing ruling coalition, was third with 13.95%. – AFP

BANGKOK: Thai anti-government protesters in Bangkok surrendered yesterday, giving the harried prime minister some breathing space to try to fix the worsening economy. “We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters,” said Jatuporn Prompan, one of the leaders of the red-shirted protesters loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who still commands widespread loyalty among the rural poor. The government extended the New Year’s holiday for the rest of the week for “public safety” in case the red shirts regroup in Thaksin strongholds and come back to the capital, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told Reuters. “Overall, I don’t think this is the end of the story,” said Danny Richards, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. “This crisis still has a long way to go. “But in terms of this protest in itself, Abhisit has managed to remain in control, and I think you’d have to say he has avoided a major crisis of confidence in his government.” Police said Arrest warrants have been issued for Thaksin and 13 other pro-Thaksin leaders in the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) for violating a state of emergency, which forbids more than five people for political reasons. Four of them were already in custody. Thailand’s intractable political divide broadly pits royalists, the military and the urban middle-class against the rural poor loyal to Thaksin. Standard & Poor’s downgraded its local currency sovereign rating for Thailand yesterday and said political tension would remain high, whichever side was in power. “We believe that investor confidence has been damaged significantly as a result of the latest developments while, in the near term, inbound tourism will also be affected negatively,” said S&P credit analyst Kim Eng Tan. Thai stocks look set to fall when they resume trading tomorrow after a long holiday scarred by political unrest, and the baht may also come under pressure due to the downgrade, investment analysts said. Abhisit was made to look foolish after the “red shirts” forced the cancellation of an Asian summit in the resort of Pattaya on Saturday, an event the prime minister had trumpeted as proof Thailand was returning to normal. Protesters had besieged his office at Government House since March 26, demanding he resign and new elections be held. But Abhisit restored some of his lost credibility after the military quelled violent

Tamil Tigers ready to negotiate for truce, peace talks COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels offered yesterday to negotiate a bilateral ceasefire with government forces and to open political talks to halt decades of ethnic bloodshed. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the government’s current two-day halt in fighting was insincere but that they were ready for a long-term truce supervised by the international community. “Such a ceasefire should also contain a base for political negotiations,” the rebels said in a statement. The Tigers have suffered months of battlefield setbacks at the hands of government troops, and their 37-year armed campaign for an independent Tamil homeland appears close to an end. The rebels said Sri Lankan leaders had called for a brief pause in fighting to deflect mounting international pressure, as the military closes in on the final rebels holed up in the northeast of the island. “We consider this ceasefire announcement of the Sri Lankan government as a two-day holiday opportunity availed to its servicemen,” the Tigers said. “The LTTE unequivocally condemns this political swagger aimed at deceiving the world as well as the Tamil people.” The Tigers said an internationally backed ceasefire was needed to end the suffering of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the conflict zone. – AFP

Military occupies Fiji central bank, governor dismissed SUVA: The governor of Fiji’s central bank was dismissed yesterday and the military has taken over the building, said a senior bank official. In the latest upheaval to hit the island nation, Reserve Bank of Fiji governor Savenaca Narube was told to vacate his office because his appointment was constitutional and Fiji no longer has a constitution, the official said on condition of anonymity. President Josefa Iloilo scrapped the constitution on Friday to bypass an Appeal Court ruling that prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama had been in power illegally since the 2006 coup he led. He also sacked all judges and judiciary officials before reappointing military chief Bainimarama and his cabinet for five more years. There was no official confirmation of Narube’s dismissal, but a statement from the central bank, that exchange controls had been tightened, was issued in the name of deputy governor Sada Reddy. The deputy governor is not a constitutional appointment. The Reserve Bank of Fiji is in the same building as the New Zealand High

Commission (embassy) office, and a spokesman for the New Zealand foreign ministry said the commission staff were not under any threat. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said soldiers had entered the building and “people coming and going are being checked.” Earlier yesterday, McCully raised the possibility of travel and trade bans on Fiji, and said people should think twice about visiting the popular South Pacific holiday destination. New Zealand has condemned the latest upheaval in Fiji where courts and the public prosecutions office remained closed yesterday because there was no one to staff them on the first working day after the Easter holiday break. The Fiji Human Rights Commission was also shut because it was an office appointed under the constitution. Under emergency regulations, the Fijian media is under orders only to publish positive stories about the political situation or risk being shut down, while foreign journalists face deportation. – AFP

A lone anti-government protester with baggage leaves Government House yesterday. .

protests on Monday between red shirts and troops at a major junction in the capital without too much bloodshed. Two people died, both of them in skirmishes between residents and someone riding on a motorbike, while 123 people were injured in the clashes between soldiers and protesters, mostly from tear gas, authorities said. Abhisit said yesterday the state of emergency in greater Bangkok that he imposed on Sunday would remain for the time being to restore order in parts of the capital where protests were still taking place “but without their red shirts on”. Thousands of red shirt protesters were put on buses back to their home provinces after their leaders surrendered to the military at Government House. The violence has damaged Thailand’s crucial tourist industry at a busy holiday time. Several countries have issued advisories on travel to Thailand. The tourist sector was barely picking up after a one-week shutdown of Bangkok’s airports by protesters opposed to Thaksin late last year when a government allied to him was in power.

Protesters make their last stand burning buses on the main road in Bangkok.

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JAKARTA: A group of Indonesian political parties led by the main opposition Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) met yesterday to discuss irregularities in last week’s general elections, officials said. The parties are expected to sign a joint declaration condemning the organisation of the vote, which has been subject to hundreds of complaints about problems such as inaccurate voter lists and missing ballot papers. “They will have a joint statement regarding the process of the elections,” said Yus Usman Sukmanegara, secretary- general of the Hanura party led by former military chief Wiranto. Independent polling agencies have said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party won the most votes with around 20.48%. Final official results are not expected until early May. The Electoral Commission has been criticised for its poor organisation of the

‘RED SHIRTS’ END OCCUPATION OF GOVT HOUSE TO AVOID LOSS OF LIFE

EPAPIX

Thai protesters end

Opposition parties to discuss poll errors