Referendum plan wins little support as Thai crisis drags

FE Team | Published: September 06, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

BANGKOK, Sept 5 (AFP) Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej found little support Friday for his proposal to hold a referendum to resolve the stalemate with protesters who have occupied his offices for 11 days.brThe protesters stormed into his Government House compound on August 26 demanding that Samak resign and that Thailand's democracy be curtailed, saying only 30 percent of seats in parliament should be elected.brSamak has refused to step down or call snap elections, insisting that he would stay in office to defend democracy. As a compromise, he has proposed holding a referendum asking the public to decide whether he should stay or go.brBut critics slammed that idea, arguing that the balloting would only drag out the turmoil and risked sparking new violence like the clashes among rival protesters that left one of Samak's supporters dead early Tuesday.brSpeaker of the Senate, Prasobsook Boondech, told reporters that organising a referendum would take at least one month.brThe problem of the country is immediate and needs to be resolved as quickly as possible, he said.