Wrong Way in Thailand: Can a State of Emergency Lead to `National Reconciliation'?
Abhisit
After bloody clashes between the Thai army and opposition demonstrators killed some 90 people in the center of Bangkok in May  the unelected government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva promised to launch what he called a "national reconciliation plan." Since then authorities have arrested hundreds of opposition leaders; closed media; frozen the bank accounts of suspected supporters of the Bangkok demonstrations and brought terrorism charges against the movement's exiled leader  Thaksin Shinawatra.
 On July 6  Mr. Abhisit renewed a state of emergency in Bangkok and 18 other provinces  allowing his regime to arrest and hold people without charge  censor the media and prevent public gatherings. Meanwhile  he has announced that the parliamentary elections he had offered to hold in November will be postponed until next year. If this is what he calls "national reconciliation " Mr. Abhisit  a graduate of Eton and Oxford  must have taken a lesson in Orwellian language.
 Mr. Thaksin and the red shirts have contributed to Thailand's impasse by blockading the center of Bangkok for two months last spring and for refusing the compromise Mr. Abhisit offered before the violence began and the army moved in. But the root cause of the troubles is the refusal of the traditional political class  the military and the royal court  which Mr. Abhisit's government represents  to accept the results of democratic elections.
 Repression will not solve this problem. If Mr. Abhisit really wants reconciliation  the steps he must take are clear: End the state of emergency  release the red shirt leaders and negotiate leading to elections  with a commitment by all sides to allow the winners to rule within the boundaries of a reformed constitution.
After bloody clashes between the Thai army and opposition demonstrators killed some 90 people in the center of Bangkok in May  the unelected government of [TGT] promised to launch what [TGT] called a "national reconciliation plan." Since then authorities have arrested hundreds of opposition leaders; closed media; frozen the bank accounts of suspected supporters of the Bangkok demonstrations and brought terrorism charges against the movement's exiled leader  Thaksin Shinawatra.
 On July 6  [TGT] renewed a state of emergency in Bangkok and 18 other provinces  allowing his regime to arrest and hold people without charge  censor the media and prevent public gatherings. Meanwhile  he has announced that the parliamentary elections he had offered to hold in November will be postponed until next year. If this is what he calls "national reconciliation " Mr. Abhisit  a graduate of Eton and Oxford  must have taken a lesson in Orwellian language.
 Mr. Thaksin and the red shirts have contributed to Thailand's impasse by blockading the center of Bangkok for two months last spring and for refusing the compromise [TGT] offered before the violence began and the army moved in. But the root cause of the troubles is the refusal of the traditional political class  the military and the royal court  which Mr. Abhisit's government represents  to accept the results of democratic elections.
 Repression will not solve this problem. If [TGT] really wants reconciliation  the steps [TGT] must take are clear: End the state of emergency  release the red shirt leaders and negotiate leading to elections  with a commitment by all sides to allow the winners to rule within the boundaries of a reformed constitution.