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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliment, Wednesday) :  No tears will be shed for Thaksin Shinawarta  but there are tears for Thai democracy. 

The autocratic billionaire Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin who had been accused of rampant corruption, abuses of power and subversion of democratic institutions, had been toppled  in the Thai military coup last night.

However, decades of Thai progress in terms of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law had been undone by the military coup. Democratic elections, and not coups, are  the way to change governments.

The Thai Political Reform Council must give way for the immediate  restoration of  the democratic and constitutional institutions and processes, not only for the sake of democratisation in Thailand and the rest of ASEAN (in particular Burma), but also for economic stability and certainty in the Thai kingdom and Southeast Asia.

(20/09/2006)