BANGKOK, Thailand—Thailand’s government said Monday that elections will be held on February 2, hours after the Prime Minister dissolved the Lower House of Parliament in a bid to calm the country’s deepening political crisis.
Spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi said that the date was set during a Cabinet meeting in Bangkok.
The surprise move came as more than 150,000 protesters vowing to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government marched peacefully through the capital’s streets for a “final showdown.”
Analysts said the elections are unlikely to satisfy opponents who want to rid Thailand of the influence of Yingluck’s powerful family. The protesters are pushing for a non-elected “People’s Council” to replace her democratically elected government.
Yingluck had said in a televised speech earlier she would remain in a caretaker capacity until a new prime minister is elected.
Thailand has been plagued by political turmoil since the army toppled Yingluck’s brother Thaksin in a 2006 coup. The protesters accuse Yingluck of serving as a proxy for her brother who lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated.
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