Thailand postpones ASEAN summit amid political chaos
- From: Chim <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 03:00:19 -0800 (PST)
Thailand postpones ASEAN summit amid political chaos
Posted : Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:15:23 GMT
Author : DPA
Bangkok - Thailand's outgoing cabinet on Tuesday agreed to postpone
the 14th summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), which was scheduled for mid-December in Chiang Mai, to an
unspecified date next year. "It has definitely been postponed, but
until when, will require consultations with the other ASEAN members,"
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said.
"March is an option," he added.
The Thai cabinet met in Chiang Mai, 550 kilometres north of Bangkok,
Tuesday morning and decided to postpone hosting the ASEAN summit, just
hours before they lost their posts.
Thailand's Constitution Court in a verdict announced mid-day Tuesday
dissolved the ruling People Power Party and two allied parties - Chart
Thai and Matchimathipataya - after finding them guilty of colluding in
election fraud in the December 23, 2007 polls.
The verdict effectively put an end to the premiership of Somchai
Wongsawat and his entire cabinet, leaving no government in place to
host the upcoming ASEAN summit.
Thailand has been reeling from its worst political crisis in decades
after six months of anti-government protests culminated in
demonstrators seizing Bangkok's two airports, a tactic that has
brought the country to its knees.
Security personnel have refused to crack down on the anti-government
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is leading the protests,
because the movement is known to enjoy the backing of members of
Thailand's political elite, including leaders of the army.
Given the political chaos, the postponement of the of the planned
ASEAN summit on December 15-17 has been anticipated for weeks.
Diplomatic sources said Thailand can postpone the summit by a few
months without infringing ASEAN etiquette. Thailand holds the chair of
the 10-nation regional bloc through 2009.
Previously, each country held the rotating chairmanship for one year,
from July to June, but under the newly ratified ASEAN charter that
will take on January 1, Thailand will keep the chair for 18 months
until the end of next year, a senior ASEAN diplomat said.
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