6pm PAD deadline passes
The 6pm deadline for the PAD to disperse from Government House and five ministries passed a few minutes ago. Samak is currently giving a press conference, and has refused to resign. He stressed that the police will use "soft and gentle" tactics, not violence, to disperse the PAD.
Samak also reaffirmed his plan to amend the constitution. Safeguarding the 2007 constitution was one of the PAD's stated aims when they renewed their protests in May. [I'm certainly no fan of the military-drafted constitution, but it was approved in a national referendum. I don't like Samak, either, but he won the election last year. The PAD leaders have no such legitimacy: the mob which supports them amounts to only a few thousand people.]
The PAD call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, yet their policies ('New Politics') and their tactics (disruptive street protests, ignoring the judiciary and the elected parliament) are absolutely undemocratic.
Samak also reaffirmed his plan to amend the constitution. Safeguarding the 2007 constitution was one of the PAD's stated aims when they renewed their protests in May. [I'm certainly no fan of the military-drafted constitution, but it was approved in a national referendum. I don't like Samak, either, but he won the election last year. The PAD leaders have no such legitimacy: the mob which supports them amounts to only a few thousand people.]
The PAD call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, yet their policies ('New Politics') and their tactics (disruptive street protests, ignoring the judiciary and the elected parliament) are absolutely undemocratic.
posted by Matthew Hunt at 18:22
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