“RED shirt” supporters of fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra are planning more big rallies to push for elections, raising fears of an intensification of Thailand's four-year political crisis. The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) has emerged as a formidable extra-parliamentary force, capable of mobilizing tens of thousands of people for lengthy demonstrations. The UDD is a pro-Thaksin protest movement whose members are mostly rural people from the fugitive billionaire's strongholds in the north and northeast. Many among Thailand's rural poor remain loyal to Thaksin because of his populist policies and believe he is the only Thai leader that has sought to address their needs, providing soft loans, support for farmers, cheap health care and village funds. They agree with his claim that his removal in a coup and his subsequent graft convictions were politically motivated by the military, urban elites and royalists — the traditional power-holders in Thailand — to neutralize his political threat. The UDD says the government is illegitimate because it was not elected by the people. It wants Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve Parliament and hold new polls, which they are confident the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai Party would win. The “red shirts” say their campaign is a fight for democracy. Most, but not all, are staunch supporters of Thaksin and are pushing for his return. They submitted a petition with 3.5 million signatures last month, asking revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej to pardon him. The UDD believes the 2006 coup, the dissolution of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai and the People Power Party he backed, and his graft conviction all resulted from intervention by his powerful opponents, alongside heavy pressure from the influential extra-parliamentary “yellow shirts” movement. Along with the Puea Thai Party, the UDD wants an amnesty for all politicians banned since the 2006 coup, arguing that the rulings were made by judges appointed by a military government that used unconstitutional means to seize power. Quite far, if what happened in April is anything to go by. In the space of only a few days, “red shirts” managed to blockade Abhisit's office, shut down key intersections in Bangkok and force the cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders in a town 150 km (93 miles) away. Hundreds of “red shirts” then battled for 14 hours with troops on the streets of Bangkok, resulting in Thailand's worst violence in 17 years. They hurled petrol bombs, burned tires, hijacked two petrol tankers and stole more than 30 buses, setting them ablaze then driving some of them at troops.Critics have accused the UDD of seeking to divide the country and instigate violence to trigger a crackdown or even a coup, as happened several times during crises in the 1970s. But analysts say military intervention would not help their campaign.
