Re: Half Thai Tonychat, is now time to show that you have balls to protest in BKK now
Thai coup leader disbands Senate, assumes law-making power
BANGKOK: Thailand's military junta has disbanded the country's Senate and placed all law-making responsibility in the hands of the army general who led this week's coup, the army said on Saturday.
"The Senate is dismissed. Responsibility for any laws needing the approval of the parliament or Senate will instead be assumed by the leader of the (junta)," said an announcement on national television.
The Thai junta had said former premier Yingluck Shinawatra and other ousted government leaders would be held for up to a week, tightening its grip following a coup that has provoked an international outcry.
As sporadic protests flared in Bangkok, the military also said the seizure of the government by General Prayut Chan-O-Cha had been "acknowledged" by the country's revered king, while stopping short of calling it a royal endorsement.
Briefing the media for the first time since Prayut deposed the civilian government on Thursday after months of escalating political turmoil, the military declined to specify the whereabouts of Yingluck and scores of other prominent detainees, but said they were in no danger.
"They will be detained for up to one week depending on how directly they were involved (in Thailand's political tumult)," army spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree told reporters.
In comments to AFP, Lieutenant General Thirachai Nakwanich, head of the military command for central Thailand including Bangkok, added: "(Yingluck) is under detention, and she is fine."
Prayut had submitted a letter to King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the takeover, said a separate military announcement read out later on national television.
The 86-year-old king commands great respect among his subjects, and his blessing is traditionally sought to legitimise Thailand's recurring military takeovers.
The palace "replied that his Majesty has acknowledged (the letter)," the brief bulletin said.
The palace itself has not issued a statement on the coup yet.
Washington, which has led criticism of the coup, took its first concrete steps, suspending $3.5 million in military assistance to its ally -- about one-third of its Thai aid. Further cuts were being considered.
Civil liberties have been curbed, media restrictions imposed, most of the constitution abrogated, and rival political protesters cleared from Bangkok's streets.
A night-time curfew has tamed the capital's rowdy night-life, further chilling a vital tourist sector already cooled by the long-term strife.
Yingluck and scores of other figures in the now-deposed government and her Pheu Thai Party -- plus many of their fierce rivals -- were called in on Friday as the army corralled potential opponents of the coup.
They were taken in under a martial law provision allowing detentions of up to seven days without charge. It was not known whether any charges were being prepared.
Most of those detained appeared to be Pheu Thai members or allies.
Political analysts view the coup as part of a long-running effort by a Bangkok-based power elite -- aligned with the monarchy and military -- to eliminate the political threat of Yingluck's elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms tycoon, shook up Thai politics by winning devotion among millions of rural poor with populist measures, catapulting him to prime minister in 2001 polls.
He was deposed in 2006 in a military coup, fleeing abroad two years later to avoid a corruption conviction, but his family and allies continued his success at the ballot box as political temperatures rose.
The constitution was replaced after 2006 with one intended to curb Thaksin's electoral influence.
"This time, the constitutional changes will be more thorough," Thai politics analyst Paul Chambers said.
He said measures could include "electoral gerrymandering, even more power granted to the judiciary, and finally -- and most ominously -- more power granted to the army."
Anti-Thaksin forces -- alleging corruption in Yingluck's administration -- have staged months of deadly Bangkok protests, triggering counter-demonstrations by the pro-Thaksin "Red Shirt" movement.
Tensions spiralled in early May when a court ruling controversially stripped Yingluck of office, setting the stage for the coup.
The "Red Shirts" had earlier warned a coup could trigger civil war but are yet to mount a clear response.
However, for the second straight day, anti-coup demonstrators defied a protest ban, with hundreds gathering in at least two locations in central Bangkok to demand the junta restore democracy.
"I have the right to vote and I want to make it clear that they cannot just steal it from me with a coup," said a tour guide who identified herself only as Piti.
No serious confrontations have yet been reported, but AFP reporters witnessed several people being taken into custody in various locations on Saturday.
The US, EU, UN chief Ban Ki-moon, and major foreign investment source Japan have led calls for civilian control to be restored and free elections held.
No timetable has been given for any new elections.
Some protest-fatigued Bangkok residents have expressed hope of stability under the junta, while others were angered by the affront to democracy.
Thailand's democratic development has been repeatedly set back by 19 actual or attempted coups since 1932.
The takeover "has thrown Thailand's rights situation into a free fall," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
"This rolling crackdown needs to come to an end immediately."
- AFP/al