Red Shirts question PM's sincerity in resolving deadlock

Bangkok: Thai anti-government protesters Tuesday said they were not interested in further talks with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and would look at new ways to push for elections.

After two rounds of lengthy but fruitless talks with the embattled premier, Red Shirt leaders accused Abhisit of stalling and questioned whether he sincerely wanted to find a way out of the deadlock.

"The aim of the Red Shirts is house dissolution and when the government is just buying time, there's no use in us having more talks," one of the leaders, Jatuporn Prompan, told reporters.

"We will meet later to discuss our next move in pushing for house dissolution."

Abhisit left for a two-day visit to Bahrain yesterday. He has suggested more talks to find a way out of the impasse and it is still possible that protest leaders accede to it.

The Red Shirt protesters question the way he became prime minister as head of a coalition they say was put together by the army and accuse him of clinging to power and putting off an election his party is not likely to win.

Political stalemate

Abhisit's term will expire in December next year, when an election must be called. The failure of the talks, which was widely anticipated, will add to concerns about the protracted political stalemate in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, which could hurt long-term investment.

However, foreigners have continued to pile money into Thailand's stock market to the tune of more than $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) since February 22.