BANGKOK: Hundreds of anti-government protesters — many wearing white masks — converged on Bangkok’s shopping district, Thai police said yesterday, in a reminder of the kingdom’s political divisions.
The demonstration by the ‘V for Thailand’ movement — an enigmatic protest group spawned over social media whose supporters wear the masks of comic book hero ‘V’ — was the fourth this month outside the CentralWorld complex in the heart of the city.
“There were about 1,500 white mask protesters attended a protest,” Deputy Metropolitan police chief Parinya Jansuriya said, adding the protest — which lasted several hours — was “peaceful.” Thailand has been plagued by political divisions and sometimes violent street protests involving so-called ‘Red Shirt’ supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra — and her self-exiled brother Thaksin — and ‘Yellow Shirts’ who support the pro-establishment opposition.
Tokyo votes in litmus test ahead of national polls
TOKYO: Tokyo voters headed to the polls yesterday in a day seen as a litmus test ahead of national elections that could give Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an uninterrupted three years without a public vote.
Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, in partnership with the junior New Komeito, are expected to claim a comfortable majority in the 127-seat Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.
The ballot is widely being seen as an indicator of public opinion in the run up to upper house polls expected on July 21.
It will be the first voters’ verdict on Abe’s administration, which came to power in December and still enjoys approval ratings of more than 60 percent. An economic policy blitz dubbed “Abenomics”, which blends massive monetary easing, big fiscal spending and a series of reforms aimed at freeing up businesses, has dominated the opening months of the Abe government.
Agencies
