Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Thai government on Tuesday announced that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit slated for mid-December in Thailand has been postponed to March 2009, due to the political turmoil prevailing in the country.
Thailand's constitutional court on Tuesday convicted Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's People's Power Party, along with two other political parties in the coalition government, of election fraud and ordered he parties be dissolved, effectively banning Somchai and executives of the parties in question from politics for five years.
Following the court ruling, it was announced that No. (1) Deputy Prime Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul will assume the duties of caretaker Prime Minister pending a meeting of the caretaker cabinet, announced Sukhumpong Ngonkham of the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders, who led anti-government protestors in seizing Bangkok's two major airports last Tuesday, continued with their demand that all cabinet members must resign, vowing to continue their blockade of the airports until their demands are met.
The seizure of Suvarnabhumi International and Don Meung Airports has left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded and cost the country millions of dollars in lost revenue.
According to the statutes of the Thai constitution, written by the military government last year, out of 36 cabinet ministers, 22 are to be automatically removed from office for party election fraud, while the rest can continue holding office until a new cabinet is formed.
ASEAN's annual flagship meeting was originally to be held in Bangkok, but with an increasing political crisis in the capital, the venue was shifted to Chiang Mai in the north of the country. However, with the escalation of domestic turmoil over the past week, Thailand has now announced the postponement of the summit until March 2009.
The summit brings together representatives of the ten member nations, including Burma's military government, along with representatives from China, Japan and South Korea.
