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BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Sunday rejected calls by protesters to hold snap elections, saying the kingdom was not politically stable enough to go to the polls yet.
Thousands of demonstrators loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra have surrounded Abhisit's offices in Bangkok since March 26 to press him to dissolve his fragile three-month-old government.
Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and remains in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, has urged his supporters across the country to attend a mass rally in Bangkok Wednesday.
"We can only have elections when the political situation has been stable for a period of time. The elections should be dignified," Abhisit said during his weekly television broadcast.
"If the election leads to violence, it will be dangerous for democracy," said Abhisit, adding that the government also wanted to solve Thailand's economic problems.
Oxford-educated Abhisit called on protesters to obey a court order issued earlier this week to allow the cabinet and government staffers to enter the besieged Government House complex.
The demonstrations by Thaksin's supporters, known as the "Red Shirts" because of their favoured attire, are the latest installment in three years of turmoil that has divided the country since Thaksin was toppled.
Abhisit's government, which took office in December on the back of a court decision that removed Thaksin's allies from power, survived a no-confidence motion last month brought by the pro-Thaksin opposition.
The current rally outside Abhisit's office has echoes of the demonstrations by a yellow-clad, anti-Thaksin movement that rocked Thailand throughout 2008.
Those protests included a three-month occupation of Government House and a crippling nine-day blockade of Bangkok's airports.
Thaksin remains hugely popular among the rural and urban poor but is loathed by Thailand's old guard in the palace, military and bureaucracy.
- AFP/yb
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