Another anti-coup group pulls out
Activist Chanapat na Nakhon yesterday decided to cancel his plan to lead an anti-coup protest tomorrow, claiming that a "well-respected social figure" had warned him about possible violence triggered by a third party.
Meanwhile, workers from more than 43 state enterprises will stage a massive rally at the Royal Plaza on Wednesday to press the interim government to cancel the privatisation of state-owned bodies. In a statement handed to the press, Chanapat referred to the warning that a group of "violent" people was planning to turn the protest into a confrontation with military and police officers. He refused to reveal the identity of the social figure. Instead of attempting to stop this third party, he said, the Council for National Security (CNS) and the government made threats to "purely democratic-minded" citizens, who intended to attend the rally on Constitution Day. Bank accounts of some local politicians have been frozen on the strength of a government claim that they need to be scrutinised, he said. Given the climate of uncertainly, he has decided to postpone his anti-coup rally until January 6 as he does not want to see any violence occur in the year of His Majesty the King's celebration, he said. Chanapat's withdrawal followed that of another activist, Theppanom Siriwithayarak, who agreed not to lead anti-coup protesters into Bangkok for tomorrow's rally. Theppanom's decision came after talks with CNS deputy secretary-general and assistant Army commander General Saprang Kalyanamitr, who had been assigned to mediate with protest leaders. The absence of the two activists will leave the September 19 Anti-Coup Network as the only group to stage the protest at Sanam Luang. The group is estimated have up to 1,000 members, mostly young people, graduates and student activists. Sombat Boonngamanong, a key member of the September 19 group, said it would go ahead and march tomorrow. He accused the groups under the other two activists of having been hired to create confusion among pro-democracy citizens. "It looks like the action of a hired gun," he said. "But it won't have any impact on our protest as [they] mean nothing to us." The group will assembly at 4pm at Sanam Luang and march to the Democracy Monument at 6pm. In the meantime, workers from more than 43 state enterprises will stage a massive rally at the Royal Plaza on Wednesday to press the interim government to cancel privatisation portions of the Act on Capital of State Enterprises 2002.
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