Will Red Shirts' 'true blood' change Thai political stalemate?
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Thailand's Red Shirts movement drew the world's attention again when their leader said they will splash 1 million cc blood -- 1,000 liters, that is -- around the Government House Tuesday. The blood is drawn from the massive protesters who are staging a rally in Bangkok.
After Veera Muskiapong, one of the Red Shirts leaders, read an ultimatum Sunday demanding a House dissolution within 24 hours and after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva firmly rejected the ultimatum the next day, the anti-government movement hope the " true blood" will help to topple the administration that they claim was not legitimately elected.
Red shirts rally: a game of "who blinks first"
Monday, the second day of the Red Shirts' "one million people rally", Bangkok saw an estimated number of 50,000 red-clad protesters rallying outside Prime Minister's command center, situated in a heavily guarded army base.
The show of force in a relatively peaceful demonstration, as expected, failed to pressure the Thai government to give in. Abhisit, flanked by his coalition partners, rejected the demand to dissolve the Parliament.
The Red Shirts comprise of rural people mainly from the North and Northeastern part of Thailand, a stronghold of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other activists who oppose the last military coup in 2006 that ousted Thaksin. They are generally grouped under the leadership of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).
The high-profiled "one million people rally" in Bangkok was mobilized by UDD after the court ruling that confiscated a major part of Thaksin's 2.2-billion-U.S.-dollar wealth for corruption. However, UDD was unable to marshal the required numbers.
The government agency estimated only about 50,000 protesters while the actual figures could be around 120,000 at most. Analysts think that without the critical mass, the Red Shirt movement is not expected to achieve any quick outcome in their political demands.
As an article on The Nation puts it, this is a game of "who blinks first", as both sides hate to be seen as the one who incite the violence or conflict.
If the Red Shirts persist to attain their desirable objective quickly, however, as they are constrained by a lack of financial support for a prolonged rally, the situation may dangerously escalate into a violence phase, provoked by some rogue elements and hardliners.
As witnessed, Monday was not without violence as two soldiers were injured when M79 grenades were fired into the compound of another military camp. The incident highlighted the potential risk of escalating into an explosive crisis similar to last year's near- anarchical situation.
The prime objective of the Red Shirts movement is to force a House dissolution and an early election so that the Thaksin's proxies have the chance to return to power. They attempt to achieve the goal through street pressure and hope to alter the balance of power in the parliament.
