INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Women groups call on Thaksin to resign
On International Women's Day Wednesday Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra went down in the country's history as the first prime minister to face pressure from women groups to step down.
More than 500 women gathered at the Royal Plaza Wednesday morning before marching to Government House, where their representatives described how female labourers have been suffering under the Thaksin-led government.The group of women issued a joint statement calling on Thaksin to step down and never to contest in an election again. "If Thaksin's system continues, the country will face economic, social and political disasters," a part of the statement said. The women group accused Thaksin of neglecting the rights of female labourers by failing to endorse initiatives to enhance safety at workplaces or establish childcare centres in industrial zones. "Under his leadership, corruption, conflicts of interest, privatisation of state enterprises, interference in independent organisations and lack of ethics have all afflicted the country," they said. Other influential woman leaders too kept up the attack on Thaksin. Wilaiwan Sae Tia, leader of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee who had joined the anti-Thaksin movement, called on every labourer to go on a strike next Tuesday. "We will join forces to expel Thaksin," she said. Kotchawan Chaiyabutr, secretary-general of the Student Federation of Thailand, said Thaksin might have "lost his mind" by dismissing protest rallies as mob rule. "The Constitution guarantees people the right to rally," she said. In a related development, about 20 representatives of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) gathered outside Government House to declare that SRT employees had never involved in anti-Thaksin movement. "Some of former employees have done this," one of the representatives said.
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