By DPA
Bangkok : Pro-democracy activists of Thailand Monday called on visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to help in restoring “genuine” democracy to the country.
About 30 activists of the Democracy Confederation attempted to hand an open letter to Ban as he entered Government House for talks with Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont but were blocked by authorities from doing so.
“We would greatly appreciate if Your Excellency would kindly consider asking to bring back genuine democracy, respect for rule of law and human rights from our military government,” said the letter.
The Democracy Coalition, led by well-known anti-military activists, such as Sant Hatthirat, said Thailand had been under military rule since the Sep 19, 2006 coup that toppled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Although the country is scheduled to hold a general election Dec 23 to return to civilian rule, the letter raised concerns about the fairness of the polls.
“It appears that the Dec 23 election may be rigged, and human rights violations will rise after the elections together with chaos and progressive socio-economic failure,” the petition said.
It is widely believed that the military will block the People Power Party (PPP), which is backed by Thaksin, from taking power in the post-election period even if they win most of the seats.
Likely scenarios are that the PPP will be disqualified for election fraud, or the party will be excluded from a joining a coalition government in post-polls manoeuvring, observers say.
Ban was scheduled to meet with Surayud Monday morning to discuss Thailand’s current situation, and to have an audience with Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who turned 80 Dec 5, in the afternoon.
While in Thailand, Ban will also deliver a speech on global warming at the UN headquarters in Bangkok before flying to Bali Tuesday to join the international climate change conference