Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
Protesters
cut off electricity to the prime minister’s office compound on Thursday
and demanded that police abandon the premises, piling pressure on the
government amid a political crisis that has dragged on for weeks.
The protesters, seeking to force the replacement of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government before a Feb. 2 election, have threatened to force their way in if police don’t leave. Police attempts to negotiate were rebuffed, but they did not withdraw immediately. Yingluck was not in her offices at the time and shortly afterward gave a televised address from an unidentified location in which she announced a Dec. 15 meeting of all sections of society to try to find a solution to the crisis.
The protest leadership has demanded a meeting with senior military and police officials, a call which has so far been rejected, at least publicly.
In a previous confrontation, police withdrew from the compound to allow the demonstrators in without a fight. That withdrawal came after two days of increasingly violent standoffs.
The protesters, seeking to force the replacement of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government before a Feb. 2 election, have threatened to force their way in if police don’t leave. Police attempts to negotiate were rebuffed, but they did not withdraw immediately. Yingluck was not in her offices at the time and shortly afterward gave a televised address from an unidentified location in which she announced a Dec. 15 meeting of all sections of society to try to find a solution to the crisis.
The protest leadership has demanded a meeting with senior military and police officials, a call which has so far been rejected, at least publicly.
In a previous confrontation, police withdrew from the compound to allow the demonstrators in without a fight. That withdrawal came after two days of increasingly violent standoffs.
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