Thai prime minister calls for national reform council

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday proposed the establishment of a national reform council, in a bid to solve a growing political crisis. Protesters in Bangkok have for weeks been demanding Yingluck's resignation and an end to her family's political influence. They say she is a puppet for her brother Thaksin, who was deposed as prime minister in a 2006 military coup. He now lives in exile in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption that he says was politically motivated, dpa reported. Yingluck has called for a special reform council to be set up after snap elections she has called for February 2. The protesters have vowed to sabotage the polls, and the country's main opposition, the Democrat Party, has said it will boycott them. "Amid the ongoing political conflict, I would like to express my gratitude to academics, businessmen, and fellow citizens from various sectors who wish well for the country and have given opinions in order to find a resolution out of the present conflict cycle for our beloved country," she said. "I fully agree that it is now time to develop a mechanism to push forward and mobilize national reform." She said 2,000 people would initially be recruited from various professions, and they will select 499 council members who will have the task of proposing legal and constitutional reforms. An 11-member committee will include the supreme commander of the armed forces and the heads of government agencies. The protest leaders have called for an appointed council made up of "good people" to run the country. They draw their strength from Bangkok's wealthy elite and middle-classes, and the Democrat strongholds in the south of the country. Yingluck's Pheu Thai party remains hugely popular in the north and north-east of the country. Thaksin-backed parties have won the past five general elections.