8 theSun | MONDAY JANUARY 12 2009

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Thai ruling coalition wins most seats in key by-election test

BANGKOK: New Thai Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government won the
most seats in by-elections yesterday, early
results showed, strengthening his shaky
coalition in its first test at the polls.
Voting closed at 3pm (4pm in Ma-
laysia) for 29 parliament seats across
the kingdom, with Abhisit’s Democrat
Party-led coalition grabbing 20 seats
and the opposition gaining nine in the
480-member parliament.
The Election Commission’s public
relations director Ruengroj Chomsueb
said the Democrats won seven seats
and its allies scooped 13, while the two
parties linked to ousted premier Thak-
sin Shinawatra held on to nine seats.
Turnout was estimated at 60%,
although the results still have to be
certified by the Election Commission and
officially announced within one month.
“I am grateful to Thai people who
cast their vote,” Abhisit told reporters.
“I can reassure people that the ad-
ditional seats that we gained will make
the government work more smoothly in
parliament,” he said, adding no cabinet
reshuffle was planned.
Ruengroj told AFP the polling went
smoothly, with just a handful of com-
plaints about voting irregularities.
The Democrats lost elections in
December 2007 to the Thaksin-backed
People Power Party (PPP) and came to
office in a close parliamentary vote last
month after a court dissolved the PPP.
That decision brought an end to six
months of sometimes-violent protests
against the PPP and Thaksin, which
peaked with the crippling week-long
occupation of Bangkok’s two airports
in late November.
The Dec 2 ruling by the Constitutional
Court also banned scores of lawmakers
from politics for five years because of
vote fraud charges linked to the 2007
polls, triggering the by-elections.
Bangkok residents also voted yes-
terday for a new governor, with the
Suan Dusit university exit poll showing
Democrat Party candidate Sukhumb-
hand Paribatra taking the job after
winning nearly 47% of the vote.
Of the 29 seats up for grabs, 13 were
held by the now-defunct PPP – which
has regrouped in opposition as the
Puea Thai party – and 16 were held by
its then-allies in the Chart Thai party,
which was also disbanded.
Abhisit came to power in a tense
parliamentary vote on Dec 15 after a
number of former PPP lawmakers and
smaller parties including the reformed
Chart Thai defected, giving the Demo-
crats a slim majority. – AFP

Thousands rally in world

capitals against Israel
LONDON: Demonstrators in Washington leader Marie-George Buffet at the Paris march.
marched under Palestinian flags and tens of More than 40,000 people protested against
thousands rallied in cities across Europe and the Gaza assault in towns across Germany,
the Middle East on Saturday to protest against while demonstrators at the Israeli embassy
Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Clashes with police in Dublin threw shoes and carried a mock
broke out at some rallies in Europe. Danish coffin, covered with pictures of wounded or
police said they arrested 75 people at a demon- dead Palestinian children.
stration in Copenhagen after activists smashed “The haunting images of homes wrecked,
car windows, threw eggs at buses and attacked of terrified families existing among rubble in
a McDonalds outlet. shock and despair, and of endless funerals,
In Washington, several thousand demon- has rightly outraged people across the world,”
strators gathered in a park opposite the White said Gerry Adams, president of nationalist
House to protest the Bush administration’s party Sinn Fein.
backing for Israel. “It is time all of this was brought to an end:
“Free Palestine. Let Gaza live!” they chant- The slaughter of people in Gaza must end,”
ed as they marched. Some banners called on Adams told a Dublin rally.
incoming President-elect Barack Obama to Thousands of Lebanese Shi’ites who
change US policy. turned out for the Muslim Ashura festival in
“My country gives billions of dollars a year the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh also
to support a disgusting regime that practises protested against the Israeli offensive, carrying
genocide,” said Washington resident Mary Hezbollah and Palestinian flags.
Carrick. “We tell the people of Gaza and the elderly
Police in riot gear confronted around in Gaza and the heroes of the resistance, you
20,000 protesters brandishing banners and are not alone, we are with you ... victory
Palestinian flags outside the Israeli embassy is yours, God willing,” Mohammed Raad, a
in central London, while Oslo police used senior Hezbollah official, told the crowd.
tear gas against rock-throwing activists in the In Athens, hundreds of riot police carrying
Norwegian capital. plastic shields watched as about 2,000 dem-
About 30,000 took to the streets of Paris, onstrators marched to the Israeli embassy,
many demonstrators wearing Palestinian kef- fearing a revival of violent street protests
fiyah headscarves and chanting “we are all which rocked the city last month. Thousands
Palestinians”, “Israel murderer” and “peace”. marched in Sweden’s
Some threw stones at biggest cities, burn-
police and burnt ing Israeli flags and
i
red by Israel
REUTERSOIX

Israeli flags. sy stem fi setting off fireworks.

A weapons Gaza
“We are here over northern Protesters gath-
forces explodes
to demand the turday. ered in several
on Sa
end to this unac- Italian cities, some
ceptable war. shouting “Free
There are more Palestine, Gaza will
than 800 victims win” while others
including numer- burnt an Israeli
ous children and flag. Protests in Po-
civilians. We cannot land were largely
accept that,” said peaceful. – Reuters
Communist Party

Taiwan bans indoor smoking

briefs
At least 33 dead in
Peru bus accident
LIMA: At least 33 people died and 17 others
were injured on Saturday in a bus crash in the
Cajamarca region of northern Peru, police said.
The dead included six children, police chief Mar-
cial Gonzales Perez told CPN radio.
The bus, which was carrying about 50 pas-
sengers, skidded off a mountain road in the area
known as La Granja and plunged 150m into a
gorge after the driver lost control, Perez said.
Rescue teams and local residents were at the
scene helping transport the injured to hospitals as
authorities began an investigation into the cause
of the accident, he said.
In 2008, at least 875 people were killed and
5,307 injured in road accidents in Peru, down 10%
from the toll in 2007, according to police. – AFP
TAIPEI: Taiwan yesterday began to ban indoor
smoking, becoming the 17th in the world and
the second country in Asia to take the move to
protect people’s health. The ban is a victory for
anti-smoking campaigners and health workers,
but is a nightmare for die-hard smokers who
now can only smoke at home or in the open.
“Since Ireland banned indoor smoking in
2004, 15 countries have followed suit, and
Taiwan is the 17th worldwide to ban indoor
smoking,” the John Tung Foundation, the
leader in Taiwan’s anti-smoking campaign,
said in a statement.
Taiwan is the second country in Asia to ban
indoor smoking after Bhutan, which banned
selling cigarettes and smoking in 2004.
Under the new rule, all offices and indoor
facilities like department stores, restaurants,
cafes, cinemas, airports and railway stations
ban smoking. Smoking is banned in indoor
working environments where three or more
people work together. It is also forbidden
at bus stops and railway stations, including
platforms at railways stations. – dpa