Bangkok - Thailand on Tuesday mobilized 13,000 police and army personnel in preparation for possible protests against a Constitution Tribunal ruling that could dissolve Thailand's two largest political parties and spark a crisis.
Thai Army Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin said the beefed up forces were necessary to assure security following the tribunal's ruling on Wednesday.
Sonthi, who led the September 19 coup that toppled elected premier Thaksin Shinawatra last year, has reportedly ordered the troops to be unarmed and to avoid violent clashes. Soldiers sent to guard Sanam Luang, the Royal Grounds where anti-military protests are expected Wednesday night, had no weapons.
'Declaring a state of emergency will only be used as a last measure,' Sonthi told reporters.
On Wednesday the Constitution Tribunal will rule on whether the Thai Rak Thai party, set up by billionaire businessman-turned-politician Thaksin, and the Democrats, the country's oldest political party, committed electoral fraud in the general election of April 2, 2006.
If found guilty the two parties could be dissolved and their executive committees barred from politics for the next five years.
Alternatively, only one party may be dissolved, which might prompt even greater protests among their supporters, or the parties may not be dissolved but their executives may be barred from politics.
Although both the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) and Democrats have vowed not to protest the verdict, various anti-coup groups have threatened to hold demonstrations if the tribunal's decision seriously undermines the country's already weakened political party system.
The likelihood of mass protests being held in Bangkok prompted the Australian, British, Canadian, French, Japanese and US embassies to update their travel advisories to warn their nationals away from possible demonstrations in Bangkok on Wednesday and Thursday.
'We've just added a sentence to our existing travel advisory saying there may be huge demonstrations in Bangkok on May 30 and 31,' said a source at the British Embassy.
The German embassy in Bangkok has thus far refrained from making a special advisory about the possible unrest.
With or without protests, Wednesday's verdict will have crucial implications for Thailand's efforts to draft a new constitution, currently underway, and on a general election planned in December, this year.
'If they bar a significant number of politicians from holding office, questions will arise about how meaningful the next election will be,' said Abhisit Vejjajiva, current leader of the Democrat Party, which celebrates its 61st anniversary this year.
Under Thailand's fuzzy constitutional legislation it may still be possible for both parties to register new parties under their old names, Thai Rak Thai and Democrats, so the more serious outcome will be to what extent politicians are barred from politics by the tribunal.
The Thai Rak Thai and Democrats claim about 14 million and 4 million party members, respectively, which is sufficient for them to determine the outcome of a referendum on Thailand's 18th constitution that is currently under debate.
The referendum will be held in late August or September. If the draft constitution is rejected by the people, the Thai military will choose one of the kingdom's old constitutions in its place.
Prior to the 1997 constitution, which was abolished by the September 19 coup, previous charters allowed for appointed prime ministers, a loophole that allowed military men to lead the government and control Thai politics for six decades.
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