 |
||
| Pro-government protesters stage a protest outside constitution court Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. Hundreds of pro-government demonstrators swarmed around a court building Tuesday, forcing the relocation of judges who will rule on the fate of a Thai government beset by protests and a virtual shut-down of international air links. | ||
Thailand's pro-government protesters rallied outside the Constitution Court Tuesday morning to attempt to block judges from chairing over the last session of the party dissolution case against the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and two other parties.
The protesters arrived outside the court and blocked the roads in front of the court since 7 a.m. (2400 GMT), local TV Channel 3 reported.
Their number kept rising and it became uncertain whether judges could enter the court to conduct the last hearing for leaders of the PPP, Chart Thai Party and Matchima Tipataya Party to deliver their closing speeches.
Leaders of the protests announced that they would not allow judges to enter the court.
The besieging of the Constitution Court by pro-government protesters prompted the judges to move to chair the last session of the party-dissolution case at the Administrative Court.
On July 8, the Supreme Court ruled that former House speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat, former deputy PPP leader, was found guilty of buying votes during last Dec. 23 general election, which saw PPP win most votes, and banned him from engaging in politics for five years.
Under Thailand's Election Law under the 2007 Constitution, if any executive member of a political party committed electoral fraud, the party could be dissolved and its executive committee will be banned from engaging in political activities for five years.
Currently, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is acting PPP leader after his predecessor Samak Sundaravej resigned from the party leadership post on Sept. 30.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
View more comments