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BANGKOK: Thailand's "Yellow Shirt" protesters, who led a disruptive blockade of Bangkok's airports last year, formally applied for registration as a political party on Thursday, a senior official said.
Leading members of the ardently royalist grouping handed over their documents to the country's Election Commission at exactly 9:09 am (0209 GMT) – the number nine is considered lucky in Thailand.
Formerly known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the group that helped topple Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 said earlier this week that it had renamed itself the New Politics Party.
"The election commission can legally take 30 days to approve our petition, but in our case I hope it will be quicker and could just be one week," acting party secretary general Suriyasai Katasila told AFP.
The documents include a list of the 27 founding members of the new party, which says its key policy is to crack down on corruption.
In its heyday the PAD drew tens of thousands of yellow-clad supporters to mass rallies against Thaksin in 2006, and then to protests against his allies in government in 2008.
Last year's demonstrations peaked in the seizure of Bangkok's two main airports, which left more than 300,000 travellers stranded in Thailand for more than a week and caused massive economic damage.
The New Politics Party says it has changed its colours to a mix of yellow and green - yellow to signify support for Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej and green to stand for "clean politics."
The party has the potential to take votes from supporters of current premier Abhisit Vejjajiva's unstable coalition, ahead of elections that could be held by next year.
As the PAD, the group had the support of Bangkok's elite and circles in the palace, military and bureaucracy, who loathed Thaksin. Thaksin is currently in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.
Thailand's rival "Red Shirts," mostly loyal to Thaksin, have planned more demonstrations for the end of June. In April they forced the cancellation of a major Asian summit and then rioted for two days in Bangkok.
- AFP/yb
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