Thai PM to Dissolve Parliament


Thai PM to Dissolve Parliament

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she will dissolve parliament and hold an election "as soon as possible" following a wave of anti-government protests in Bangkok.

"At this stage, when there are many people opposed to the government from many groups, the best way is to give back the power to the Thai people and hold an election.

"So the Thai people will decide," Yingluck said in a televised address as thousands of protesters resumed demonstrations across Bangkok.

Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler says that the king will have to approve the move.

"We expect elections to take place around the end of January or the beginning of February," he reported from the Thai capital.

The leader of the protest movement that has been battling to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said he would not end his demonstrations despite her dissolving of parliament on Monday and a promise of an early general election.

"Today we will continue our march to Government House. We have not yet reached our goal. The dissolving of parliament is not our aim," Suthep Thaugsuban told Reuters.

He has repeatedly said he did not want a new election but wanted a vaguely defined, unelected "people's council" to run the country.

Yingluck's announcement comes as Thailand's capital braced for another wave of unrest as protesters trying to overthrow the country's democratically elected government vowed to swarm Bangkok's streets for a "final showdown".

The demonstrations on Monday come one day after the main opposition party resigned from parliament en masse, exacerbating the nation's deep political divide.

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