Thai PM Shinawatra backs down on bill, but won't resign
- 10 years ago
With the ashes of weeks of protests in Thailand hanging in the air, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced she will scrap a controversial bill permanently.
The law would have allowed her self-exiled brother Thaksin to return, a move which incensed the protesters who feel the family have a stranglehold on power, but the leader ruled out stepping down.
“Our family doesn’t want to be any part of the problem of Thailand,” said the prime minister, “But I think only one thing, that what we would like to see is a peaceful (society) and to secure the principle of democracy for Thailand.”
The move is unlikely to placate the demonstrators who consider Yingluck to be Thaksin’s puppet. They have vowed to continue their protests until they have forced the prime minister out of office, with the next demonstrations scheduled for Monday.
The law would have allowed her self-exiled brother Thaksin to return, a move which incensed the protesters who feel the family have a stranglehold on power, but the leader ruled out stepping down.
“Our family doesn’t want to be any part of the problem of Thailand,” said the prime minister, “But I think only one thing, that what we would like to see is a peaceful (society) and to secure the principle of democracy for Thailand.”
The move is unlikely to placate the demonstrators who consider Yingluck to be Thaksin’s puppet. They have vowed to continue their protests until they have forced the prime minister out of office, with the next demonstrations scheduled for Monday.