Thailand heads for elections
Thursday, 1 May 2014
BANGKOK, Apr 30 (AFP): Thailand Wednesday set new elections for July 20 to try to end a deadly six-month political crisis, even as legal challenges threaten to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra out of office.
The nation, riven by years of political unrest, has been without a properly functioning government since December, causing policy paralysis that has sapped the strength of its once-buoyant economy.
Yingluck is pinning her hopes on re-election to shore up her legitimacy following months of mass street protests seeking her resignation to make way for an unelected "neutral" prime minister to implement anti-corruption reforms.