Thailand’s anti-establishment Ratsadon group is demanding the dissolution of the House of Representatives, before the end of the House’s 4-year term in March, so that a general election can be held.
In a statement, issued today (Thursday) to mark the 46th anniversary of the October 6th political tragedy in 1976, the group urged the Constitutional Court to expedite its consideration of the bill on the election of MPs, which passed its final reading in parliament before being sent to the court to determine whether it is constitutional.
The Ratsadon group also urged the Election Commission to accelerate the issuance of election rules, to define what election candidates can and cannot do, the calculation method for party-list MPs and public participation in monitoring the election, among others.
If the demand for House dissolution is ignored, the group said that it would put pressure on political parties to pursue its demands. It also reconfirmed its demand for the ouster of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the drafting of a new and more democratic Constitution and the amendment of Section 112 of the Penal Code, known as the lèse majesté law.
Representatives of opposition parties and civic groups also joined the commemorative event at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus today, to pay their respects to those who were killed on October 6th, 1976 by government forces and right-wing extremist groups, among them the Red Guar and the Village Scouts.
Among the participants were Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, Pheu Thai party leader Cholanan Srikaew and representatives of the Chart Pattana Kla and Thai Sang Thai parties, among many others.
A poem was read by the president of Thammasat University’s student union, followed by a talk titled “Killing will not stop the death: New generation Thais amidst political conflict” [sic], by Association Professor Anusorn Unno, former dean of the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology.
The October 6th, 1976 incident is top trending on Twitter in Thailand today.
