Thai PM Calls For End To Anti-government Protests As She Survives No-confidence Vote

Yingluck Shinawatra and brother Thaksin

Thailand’s prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament where her party holds a commanding majority, but faces mounting pressure from widening anti-government protests.

Hours after surviving the vote on Thursday, she appealed to protesters to end their sit-ins at ministry buildings across the capital, Bangkok.
“I propose to protesters to stop protesting and leave government offices so the civil service can move forward,” she said.
“The government does not want confrontation and is ready to cooperate with everybody to find a solution.”
Demonstrators responded to her call by cutting the power to the country’s national police headquarters, showing that the vote was unlikely to end the biggest anti-government protests since deadly political unrest three years ago.
Police officers have so far been restrained in dealing with the thousands of protesters that have come onto the streets across the city.
The military has also not been deployed, seemingly in a bid to avoid the bloodshed that marked protests in 2010.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) was evacuated on Wednesday as about 2,000 protesters gathered outside, rallying against Yingluck and her influential brother and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin was deposed in a 2006 military coup and fled the country to avoid a two-year prison term on a corruption conviction.
He continues to sharply divide the nation, with his supporters and opponents battling for power.