SitiWanMahani – Seorang pemimpin protes anti-kerajaan ditembak mati di ibu negara Thailand, di mana penunjuk perasaan telah menyekat kebanyakan pusat mengundi, meng-halang orang ramai daripada mengambil bahagian dalam pengundian awal menjelang Februari- 2 pilihan raya.
Pemimpin protes, yang dikenal pasti oleh polis sebagai Suthin Taratin, telah dibunuh dalam keadaan ‘Stand- Off’ dengan polis, yang meletus di sebuah tempat mengundi diha-lang oleh penunjuk perasaan.
“Suthin Taratin telah ditembak di kepala semasa memberi ucapan dari sebuah trak pick-up,” Akanat Promphan, jurucakap pergerakan bantahan itu pada sidang akhbar di televisyen, Cannel News Asia melaporkan.
Sekurang-kurangnya 11 orang lain dilaporkan cedera semasa konfrontasi yang sama.
Seluruh penunjuk perasaan mengibarkan bendera Bangkok Thai disekat pintu masuk ke pusat pengundian. Sesetengah penunjuk perasaan menggunakan trak untuk tujuan ter-sebut. 48 daripada 50 pusat pengundian di Bangkok telah ditegah cara ini, AP melaporkan. Mengundi Advance terganggu di 10 daripada 76 wilayah di Thailand, menurut Timbalan Perdana Menteri, yang dipetik oleh Reuters.
“Penunjuk perasaan disekat pengundi. Di kebanyakan kawasan Bangkok penunjuk perasaan menggunakan kekerasan untuk menghalang orang ramai mengundi,” kata Menteri Luar Surapong Tovichakchaikul, juga Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata dalam ucapan di televisyen. “Ini adalah satu kesalahan yang amat serius sekali.”
Thai protest leader Killed during Rallies to Curb
early Elections . . .
An anti-government protest leader was shot dead in the Thai capital, where demonstrators have blocked most of the polling stations, preventing people from taking part in early voting ahead of the February-2 elections.
The protest leader, identified by police as Suthin Taratin, was killed in a stand-off with police, which erupted at a polling station blocked by demonstrators.
"Suthin Taratin was shot in the head while giving a speech from a pick-up truck," Akanat Promphan, the protest movement's spokesman told a televised press conference, Cannel News Asia reports.
At least eleven other people were reportedly injured during the same confrontation.
All over Bangkok protesters waving Thai flags blocked entrances to polling stations. Some demonstrators used trucks for the purpose. 48 out of 50 polling stations in Bangkok were obstructed this way, AP reported. Advance voting was disrupted in 10 of Thailand's 76 provinces, according to the deputy prime minister, cited by Reuters.
"Protesters blocked voters. In many areas of Bangkok protesters used force to prevent people from voting," Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, also the deputy prime minister, said in a televised address. "This is a very serious offence indeed."
Penunjuk perasaan Thai perarakan anti-kerajaan ke tempat mengundi dikelilingi semasa perhimpunan di Bangkok pada 26 Jan 2014 (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
Pengundian awal adalah bagi mereka yang tidak dapat mengambil bahagian dalam pilihan raya minggu depan, yang dijadualkan Disember lalu oleh Perdana Menteri Thai-land Yingluck Shinawatra, berikutan minggu panjang protes, yang memaksanya untuk membubarkan parlimen.
Para penunjuk perasaan di Bangkok bagaimanapun, tidak ‘mollified’ oleh prospek pilihan raya awal. Mereka telah disimpan pada rali untuk menjatuhkan Perdana Menteri dan penubuhan bukan dipilih – “Majlis rakyat”, yang akan mengubah sistem politik negara sebelum undi baru boleh berlaku.
Penunjuk perasaan anti-kerajaan menuduh Yingluck menjadi boneka abangnya, Thaksin Shinawatra, hartawan yang dibuang dan bekas Perdana Menteri di negara ini yang dising-kirkan selepas rampasan kuasa 2006. Kedua-dua adek dan abang telah dipersalahkan untuk cuba menghakis demokrasi dengan dasar-dasar populis yang membeli mereka sokongan para pengundi miskin luar bandar.
Thailand Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya telah dipanggil untuk kelewatan dengan pilihan raya minggu depan. Terdapat kebimbangan bahawa bantahan besar-besaran dan ganas boleh cengkaman Bangkok sekali lagi. Kematian Suthin Taratin membawa kepada 10 jumlah kematian keseluruhan dalam protes Thai, yang bermula pada bulan November 2013.
Keganasan parah, sementara pilihan raya menarik lebih dekat . Satu keadaan kecemasan telah diperkenalkan pada Rabu.
Penunjuk perasaan anti-kerajaan Thailand memegang bendera kebangsaan kerana mereka perarakan ke pusat pengundian dikelilingi semasa perhimpunan di Bangkok pada 26 Januari 2014 (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
The early voting is for those unable to take part in next week’s elections, which were scheduled last December by Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, following weeks-long protests, which forced her to dissolve parliament.
The protesters in Bangkok have, however, not been mollified by the prospect of early elections. They have kept on rallying for the PM’s ouster and the setting up of a non-elected “people’s council”, which would reform the country’s political system before a new vote can take place.
Anti-government protesters have accused Yingluck of being the puppet of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, an exiled tycoon and the country’s former prime minister ousted after a 2006 coup. Both sister and brother have been blamed for subverting democracy with populist policies that buy them the support of poorer rural voters.
The Thai Election Commission has already called for a delay to next week’s elections. There are concerns that massive and violent protests could grip Bangkok once again. The death of Suthin Taratin brings to 10 the overall death toll in the Thai protests, which started in November 2013.
The violence has been intensifying as the elections draw nearer. A state of emergency was introduced on Wednesday.
READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/upargp
