Thailand's Caretaker PM to chair all-parties meeting

BANGKOK, January 13 (TNA) - Thailand's Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will, herself, chair a meeting of all parties concerned in Bangkok on January 15, including representatives of anti-government protesters and the Election Commission (EC), to discuss a solution to ongoing domestic political turbulence. Suranand Vejjajiva, secreary-general to the caretaker prime minister, told journalists of the plan on Monday, noting that the caretaker prime minister would chair the January 15 meeting herself if all concerned parties sent their representatives to attend the proposed meeting. Suranand acknowledged that the five-member EC's proposal, raised on January 12 for the caretaker government to consider submitting a new royal decree on rescheduling the new general election date, from February 2, 2014, for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's approval, will also be discussed at Wednesday's meeting. Thailand's Democrat Party has boycotted the the February 2 general election, while the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a former Democrat deputy prime minister, kicked off its "Bangkok shutdown” mass rallies on Monday morning, aimed to paralyze the capital to pressure the caretaker government to resign and to push for a domestic political reform prior to the new national poll.(TNA)