MFA:Int'l community backs Thailand's general election

BANGKOK, December 24 (TNA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, again, says that the international community has supported Thailand's general election. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul told the public in his Tuesday's statement, broadcast live nationwide, that the international community has called for a general election in Thailand as a way out to ongoing domestic political turbulence. In the latest development, Surapong said, two Latin American countries, Chile and Brazil, as well as the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations announced their support for a new general election in Thailand. Surapong acknowledged that Chile and Brazil expressed their support for democratic activities in Thailand, while the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also wrote to the Thai ambassador to the United States to support Thailand's general election. Surapong elaborated that the Chilean government expressed its respect and appreciation to democracy promotion processes leading to Thailand's new general election, set on February 2, 2014, and a peaceful political solution, while the Brazilian government stated that it has monitored the domestic political situation in Thailand and urged all parties to respect democratic processes. Besides, the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations expressed its disappointment with violent protests and challenges to a democratically-elected leader in Thailand and urged Thai voters to exercise their right in the new general election to solve the domestic political strife. The caretaker deputy premier, in his capacity as the government-appointed Center for Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO), also blamed anti-government demonstrators for intimidating journalists who covered political protests, urging the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister of the Democrat Party, to stop the protest, as it is damaging the national economy and violating the rights of other people.(TNA)