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BANGKOK - Thailand's prime minister said Friday he will consider ending a state of emergency in Bangkok, after the army chief refused to use the special powers to evict protesters squatting outside his offices.
Samak Sundaravej declared the emergency in Bangkok on Tuesday after protesters besieging his offices clashed with his supporters, leaving one person dead and 43 injured.
The emergency put Bangkok under the control of the powerful army chief, General Anupong Paojinda, but he has refused to evict the protesters who have occupied the lawn outside Samak's offices for 11 days.
The emergency decree bans political gatherings of more than five people, but that has been ignored by the protesters, who demand that Samak resign and that Thailand's democracy be curtailed, saying only 30 percent of seats in parliament should be elected.
"There is no need for the state of emergency because no one has complied with it. Since people are not complying with it, I will consider revoking it," Samak told reporters.
"Since they are defying, the decree has not been effective. Therefore I will consult with the concerned officials in a day or two" about ending emergency rule, he said.
Samak appeared to be running out of options for breaking through the stalemate. He has refused to step down or call snap elections, insisting that he would stay in office to defend democracy.
As a compromise, he has proposed holding a referendum asking the public to decide whether he should stay or go.
But critics -- including the head of the Senate and the opposition leader -- slammed that idea, arguing that the balloting would only drag out the turmoil and risked sparking new violence.
"The referendum is going to be a non-starter," said political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, of Chulalongkorn University. "We're back to the same confrontation."
The White House on Thursday voiced support for Samak's elected government, but urged all sides to refrain from violence.
"We urge both supporters and opponents of the Thai government to refrain from violence, respect the rule of law, and address their differences within Thailand's democratic institutions," said spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
The protesters, who call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), are an unlikely mix of royalists, business tycoons and unionists united only by their desire to see Samak hounded out of office.
Thailand's people are deeply divided by the protests, with one survey of 16 provinces showing 50 percent of respondents supported the movement.
The finding highlights the social divide that ripped Thailand apart in recent years, with Bangkok's traditional elite backing the PAD while poor but populous rural areas support Samak.
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was the first politician to rally Thailand's rural voters with low-cost loans and free healthcare.
But the PAD staged mass protests against Thaksin in 2006, accusing him of corruption and paving the way for a military coup.
Thaksin has fled to Britain to escape corruption charges, but he tapped Samak to lead his supporters to a victory in elections last December, which ended more than a year of military rule.
The PAD protesters accuse Samak of acting as Thaksin's puppet, and say they want to change the electoral system to weaken the influence of poor voters to ensure that their political allies do not return to power.
- AFP/ir
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