Thai EC says PM, Suthep's willingness to talk a good sign

Says a format acceptable to both sides had to be found before the talks

Thailand's Election Commission today said willingness shown by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban to hold talks is a positive sign despite differences over the pre-condition set by the opposition.

 

Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said a format acceptable to both sides had to be found before the talks.

 

Suthep, who since weeks has been refusing to hold any form of talks with the government, yesterday offered to hold one-on-one talks with the caretaker premier on the condition that this would beamed live.

 

Yingluck expressed her reservations over the condition set by Suthep and said she wants to know whether he is ready to hold talks under the framework of the Constitution or not.

 

Somchai said Yingluck's willingness to hold talks with Suthep was a good sign.

 

He said both sides must stop violence and prove their sincerity for holding talks.

 

"They must stop their sides from causing violence but so far there is no such a sign," the Nation quoted Somchai as saying.

 

He said he believed that violence was caused by certain groups which did not want to see negotiations.

 

Thousands of protesters led by Suthep, a former opposition Democrat Party MP, have been holding rallies across Bangkok calling for Yingluck's government to quit. The opposition also boycotted the February 2 snap polls.

 

The protesters accuse Yingluck of acting as a proxy for her fugitive brother, former premier Thaksin who was ousted in a coup in 2006. He lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to escape a jail term on a corruption conviction.

 

Attacks over the weekend have left five persons, including four children, dead and injured several others.

 

Since November 2013, seventy attacks against the protesters have resulted in 20 deaths and 720 injuries.