Thai army chief calls meeting of political rivals | Inquirer News

Thai army chief calls meeting of political rivals

/ 02:14 PM May 21, 2014

Thai Army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha (C) speaks next to Navy chief Narong Pipatanasai (L) and Air Chief Marshal Prajin Jantong (R) during a press conference at the Army Club in Bangkok on May 20, 2014. Thailand’s army declared martial law after months of deadly anti-government protests, deploying armed troops in central Bangkok and censoring the media but insisting the move was “not a coup”. AFP

BANGKOK—Thailand’s army chief will chair a meeting Wednesday between representatives from both sides of the country’s bitter political divide, a day after declaring martial law, a military spokeswoman said.

General Prayut Chan-O-Cha called the meeting between top officials of the ruling and opposition parties as well as the election commission, the Senate and the heads of the pro- and anti-government protest camps at the Army Club in Bangkok at 1:30 p.m. (0630 GMT), the spokeswoman told Agence France-Presse.

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Caretaker Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who replaced ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra after a controversial court ruling last week, was also invited, the military later confirmed.

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Prayut invoked martial law on Tuesday, saying he had to act because political tensions have spiralled following months of deadly anti-government protests — a move critics branded a “de facto coup”.

He denied it marked a military takeover and had promised he would bring together the antagonists in Thailand’s political conflict for talks on an end to the crisis.

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But the dispatch of armed troops to the streets, the shutdown of more than a dozen television stations, and the sweeping powers assumed by the military have sparked international concern over restricted civil liberties in the kingdom.

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TAGS: Conflict, Military, Thailand

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