(Vatican Radio) Tensions remain high today in the capital of Thailand, where protestors
shrugged off a promise by the prime minister to hold snap elections.
Protest
leaders addressing supporters in Bangkok said they will continue hounding the prime
minister and her family until Yingluck Shinawatra leaves office and Thailand drops
its electoral system to bar the Shinawatras and their circle from politics for ever.
Prime
Minister Yingluck's ruling Puea Thai Party is popular with Thailand's poor, and analysts
say it is likely to win elections again — including the snap election promised in
early February.
On Tuesday, the prime minister said she had made so many concessions
she didn't know what more she can do. She says the constitution requires her to remain
in office as a caretaker leader until elections.
The main protest leader argues
because the opposition is unlikely to win elections what he wants is to replace elected
government with an appointed panel — a proposal some people in Thailand criticise
as undemocratic.
The United States appears to echo that: The U.S. State Department
has called for a resolution that reflects the will of the Thai people and strengthens
the rule of law.
For now, the security forces are standing back, refusing to
confront the protestors.
But observers say the protestors' shutdown has angered
the government's many supporters — and in the past standoffs of this kind have ended
in clashes.