Bangkok – (IINA ) January 19, 2008 – The Thai government yesterday admitted failure to win hearts and minds of the Muslim minority to end a bloody unrest in the violence-wracked south. “We made great progress on military operations last year, but our efforts with the people remained static,” Reuters reported quoting government spokesman Chaiya Yimwilai, as saying. “We need to beef up on the arrests, searches, intelligence as well as the civil affairs operations,” he said.
The country’s first ever Muslim Chief of Staff Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who was appointed by the military junta that toppled the government of business tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006, has taken a series of measures to win back Muslim confidence. Incumbent Prime Minister Chulanont Surayud has apologized for Muslims for years of abuse and ignorance. Violence, however, raged on in 2007 with nearly 800 people killed as experts say the government failed to address the root causes of the conflict.
Army spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng said Thursday that there was no sign that violence would diminish in the new year. The southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, an independent Muslim sultanate until annexed officially a century ago, have been ravaged by an armed conflict since 2004, leaving more than 2,800 people dead. Poverty and meager economic development in the Muslim south are blamed as one of the factors fuelling the unrest.
In a separate development, Thailand’s Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for allies of ousted Thaksin to form a government, rejecting legal challenges to their victory in last month’s polls. The most serious complaint was filed by Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a member of the rival Democrat Party, who claimed the winning People Power Party (PPP) was an illegal front for Thaksin, according to AFP. The court also rejected a challenge that the PPP broke election law by distributing CDs featuring Thaksin, who has been living in exile since the 2006 coup.
The court further dismissed a separate case seeking to have the election invalidated over alleged irregularities in the advance voting. The verdicts removed the most significant legal hurdles facing the PPP, which has already announced it will unveil a proposed six-party coalition government on Saturday. The announcement of a coalition would end weeks of uncertainty over the shape of a new Thai government, after the PPP won elections on December 23 but fell just short of a majority in parliament. The PPP won 228 seats in the 480-seat parliament in last month’s elections. The proposed coalition would command around 320 seats.
The PPP’s victory marks a blow to the military, which had toppled Thaksin over allegations over corruption. Thaksin also gained notoriety due to his heavy-handed policies and reported marginalization of the Muslim south.
In 2005, Thaksin imposed emergency rule in five Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia, giving security forces broad immunity from prosecution. Human rights group said Thaksin’ decision led to a rise in extra-judicial killings and abuses committed against Muslims. Muslims, numbering 13 million of Thailand’s 65 million population, have long complained of being treated like second-class citizens with no fair share in jobs or education.
HA/IINA