:00:06. > :00:11.Shirts to do the same. So if de Thaksin Shinawatra's sister wins,
:00:11. > :00:14.will you accept she has a legitimate mandate to govern?
:00:14. > :00:17.would say that she gets the first shot at governing the country,
:00:17. > :00:19.because she has already said she will not work with this or that
:00:19. > :00:24.party, so the numbers will determine who will form the
:00:24. > :00:28.government. If any party wins the most number of seats it gets the
:00:28. > :00:36.first shot. Obviously if it wins an outright majority all these
:00:36. > :00:39.questions are academic. Dear leader she wins a majority and forms a
:00:39. > :00:45.government, do you believe that government will, in essence, be
:00:45. > :00:51.controlled by her brother Thaksin Shinawatra? They are already
:00:51. > :00:56.campaigning on that - that somehow he will be in control and the
:00:56. > :01:04.priority will be to whitewash him. She says that she is considering a
:01:04. > :01:07.general amnesty and that... I think that comes after there has been a
:01:07. > :01:12.strong reaction against the proposal made earlier by a party
:01:12. > :01:20.member assigned to do this work that there will be a push to bring
:01:20. > :01:25.Thaksin Shinawatra back. But she is not saying that. Back I have spoken
:01:25. > :01:29.to her myself, she says they will be no special treatment for toxins
:01:29. > :01:34.in a white truck... Does that mean everyone on corruption charges will
:01:34. > :01:40.be whitewashed? I am asking you to tell me how you would react if
:01:40. > :01:49.Thaksin Shinawatra was able to come back. I am telling you that if
:01:49. > :01:52.Perse -- her party came out and said they would whitewash and there
:01:52. > :01:55.would be a strong reaction against it, so they are now going for a
:01:55. > :02:01.general amnesty. Airlines are expected to resume
:02:01. > :02:05.flights between Australia and New Zealand on Monday after a five-day
:02:05. > :02:11.disruption caused by an ash cloud from Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano
:02:11. > :02:15.out of Chile. Hundreds of flights were cancelled. Some normality was
:02:15. > :02:22.restored a few days later but the cash came back again, causing many
:02:22. > :02:26.cancellations on Wednesday. China and Vietnam have again
:02:26. > :02:31.pledged to solve their dispute over the South China Sea through
:02:31. > :02:35.negotiation. Diplomats from both sides met in Beijing on Saturday
:02:35. > :02:39.but no details of the meeting were released. The countries have a
:02:39. > :02:43.history of territorial disputes, but they have recently become much
:02:43. > :02:47.more hostile. The President of Sudan, Omar al-
:02:47. > :02:54.Bashir, who is wanted by the Criminal Court on crimes against
:02:54. > :02:58.humanity, arrives in China in a few hours for a state visit. China is
:02:58. > :03:07.the largest buyer of the country's oil, and they have called the visit
:03:07. > :03:11."reasonable". Omar al-Bashir it is standing against charges of war
:03:11. > :03:14.crimes. The ethnic Chinese population in
:03:14. > :03:17.Paris say they are being systematically attacked and robbed
:03:17. > :03:20.of which is driving them to seek greater police protection.
:03:21. > :03:24.Community leaders say that at least one robbery is being committed
:03:24. > :03:32.every day, often with violence. This is corroborated by city
:03:32. > :03:36.officials. This man runs a successful business,
:03:36. > :03:42.a driving school. He has been viciously attacked twice and had
:03:42. > :03:47.his nose broken. TRANSLATION: This kind of attack
:03:47. > :03:52.happens all the time, especially to Asians. My wife had her mobile
:03:52. > :04:01.phone stolen at least five times. Every day people are being attacked
:04:02. > :04:05.and beaten. These photographs were taken after the muggings. He showed
:04:05. > :04:09.me more than 80 police reports of attacks in less than a year. Many
:04:10. > :04:14.victims don't go to the police because they are illegal immigrants.
:04:14. > :04:17.The problem has become so bad that thousands of members of this
:04:17. > :04:25.normally shy community have been out on the streets calling for
:04:25. > :04:33.tougher policing. They are regularly attacked. Especially
:04:33. > :04:41.Chinese people - not because of racist reasons, but because
:04:41. > :04:46.criminals haiminals hartunity to earn money easily because Chinese
:04:46. > :04:50.people often carry cash - a lot of cash. Many Chinese people run shops
:04:50. > :04:54.or restaurants so they tend to be relatively prosperous. Officials
:04:54. > :04:58.say their attackers are often of immigrant descent themselves, from
:04:58. > :05:03.other communities. What is really shocking is that this is happening
:05:03. > :05:08.not in the notoriously violent suburbs, but here in Paris itself.
:05:08. > :05:13.In an area which, until a couple of years ago, was held up as a model
:05:13. > :05:21.of multicultural harmony. Now the police say they have put more
:05:21. > :05:23.officers on the streets but budgets are limited. Residents say they are
:05:23. > :05:31.not here when their owners needed - at night when the streets are
:05:31. > :05:34.deserted. -- when they are most needed. Victims say the muggings
:05:34. > :05:41.are becoming more violent and people are fed up with living in
:05:41. > :05:45.fear. You have news about the apparent
:05:45. > :05:48.demise of a notorious group of computer hackers?
:05:48. > :05:52.It is an unexpected development. This is a group of computer hackers
:05:52. > :05:56.which targeted major websites around the world and has now
:05:56. > :06:01.announced it is disbanding. It gained attention due to its high-
:06:01. > :06:04.profile targets and the sarcastic videos on its site. They have not
:06:04. > :06:08.given a reason for quitting, but they are being investigated by the
:06:08. > :06:14.FBI and Scotland Yard, which just last week arrested a British
:06:14. > :06:17.teenager as part of the inquiry. A senior security adviser of an
:06:17. > :06:23.internet security firm believes they faltered because the pressure
:06:23. > :06:31.was getting to them. I think it is fair to assume that with he turned
:06:31. > :06:35.up after going after several major corporations -- heat.... There are
:06:35. > :06:38.a lot of people looking for them. In the last few weeks, rival groups
:06:38. > :06:43.on the internet have been annoyed by these guys and have been tried
:06:43. > :06:46.to find out their identities and reveal them to the public and
:06:46. > :06:54.potentially to law enforcement. It may be that they heat was getting a
:06:54. > :07:03.little too hot and they decided to exit.
:07:03. > :07:06.There have been violent clashes in the Argentine capital of Buenos
:07:07. > :07:11.Aires following the relegation of the River Plate football club for
:07:11. > :07:17.the first time in its 110 year history. Fans clashed with riot
:07:17. > :07:22.police outside the stadium. An ugly end to River Plate's worst-ever
:07:22. > :07:27.season. These violent scenes at the end of the match reveal a club in
:07:27. > :07:32.turmoil, on and off the pitch. This was again which River Plate had to
:07:32. > :07:42.win by two clear goals to avoid the drop in to division before the
:07:42. > :07:42.
:07:42. > :07:46.first time in their long and illustrious history. -- division B.
:07:46. > :07:50.The match was held with tight security, and River Plate fans soon
:07:50. > :07:56.had something to celebrate. A powerful drive just six minutes
:07:56. > :08:01.into the match suggested that one of Argentina's great first teams
:08:01. > :08:07.may still pull off a great escape. In the second half the equaliser
:08:07. > :08:12.came to seal River Plate's fate and plunge them into the second year of
:08:12. > :08:22.Argentine football. A late penalty miss only compounded the misery --
:08:22. > :08:23.
:08:23. > :08:26.second here. -- second level. Water cannons were fired into the stands
:08:26. > :08:30.as River Plate's disillusioned supporters vented months of
:08:30. > :08:36.frustration at what they see as serious mismanagement by the club's
:08:36. > :08:42.hierarchy. The violence then spilled onto the streets around the
:08:42. > :08:45.stadium. Tear-gas was used and riot police were deployed. Some shops in
:08:45. > :08:51.the centre of the city were attacked and dozens of injuries
:08:51. > :09:01.have been reported. River Plate must now rebuild - a relegated team
:09:01. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:11.with a damaged reputation. You have been watching Newsday.
:09:11. > :09:15.The headlines: The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao says that China
:09:15. > :09:19.will help European countries experiencing financial difficulties.
:09:19. > :09:25.During a visit to Britain he said that China has increased its
:09:25. > :09:30.investment in government bonds from some EU countries, demonstrating
:09:31. > :09:36.Beijing's continuing confidence in the eurozone.
:09:36. > :09:46.That's all from us from London and Singapore. There is much more on
:09:46. > :09:47.
:09:47. > :09:55.our website. It has been a day of contrasts
:09:55. > :09:58.today. For many we have seen some sunshine and it has been the
:09:58. > :10:03.warmest day of the year so far. 29.2 degrees is the top temperature
:10:03. > :10:12.in London. Cool and cloudy with rain into Scotland and Northern
:10:12. > :10:15.Ireland. Temperatures here down to 17 degrees. As we head into Monday
:10:15. > :10:19.it looks as though the humidity will rise yet again and it will
:10:19. > :10:27.turn thundery later today because of the heat. We sit with the blue
:10:27. > :10:30.skies to start across England and Wales to start. Scotland and
:10:30. > :10:33.Northern Ireland cloudy with some scattered showers abound. We will
:10:33. > :10:38.start dry across Wales with sunshine and a mild start to the
:10:38. > :10:40.day. A gentle breeze across Northern Ireland and dry to start.
:10:40. > :10:44.Across Scotland also largely dry and fairly cloudy for Monday
:10:44. > :10:52.morning. We have some remnants of the weak weather front across the
:10:52. > :10:55.south-eastern areas of Scotland. To the south of that the warm air will
:10:55. > :10:58.push northwards and the two will collide, triggering some heavy
:10:58. > :11:02.showers through Monday. For most on Monday you can see across England
:11:02. > :11:05.it is clear, blue skies. 24 degrees the temperature we start with in
:11:05. > :11:12.London. It goes up from there. We will start the day with some
:11:12. > :11:19.showers affecting the south-western part of England. These showers will
:11:19. > :11:22.advance north-east, perhaps pushing into Wales through the day. Then
:11:22. > :11:25.they showers will break out across south-east Scotland and towards the
:11:25. > :11:29.north-east of England as well. We will see another spell of showers
:11:29. > :11:35.pushing up from the near continent. They might have a bit of a
:11:35. > :11:39.lightning display. High teens across Scotland and Ireland. In
:11:39. > :11:42.England we could get up to 30 degrees - very hot indeed. The hot
:11:42. > :11:45.weather for south-eastern England is likely to trigger some showers
:11:45. > :11:51.as we head through Monday evening. Thunderstorms from the east and
:11:51. > :11:59.some torrential downpours. They will push eastwards as we go
:11:59. > :12:04.through the early hours of Tuesday. The yellow and green showing some
:12:04. > :12:08.intense downpours, and this is where the humidity will be. You can
:12:08. > :12:16.see 18-19 in the east and cooler for the west - 9-13 degrees. In
:12:16. > :12:19.Tuesday we will lose the last of those showers in the east. Then we
:12:19. > :12:27.are into a fresh air mass on Tuesday. Temperatures in the high
:12:27. > :12:37.teens-mid-20s. Largely dry on Tuesday with spells of sunshine.
:12:37. > :12:37.
:12:37. > :13:36.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 59 seconds
:13:36. > :13:41.For the rest of the week it will be This is BBC News. The headlines:
:13:41. > :13:46.The Chinese Prime Minister has said that China will lend a helping hand
:13:46. > :13:50.to European countries experiencing financial difficulties. During a
:13:50. > :13:53.visit to Britain he said that China had continuing confidence in the
:13:53. > :13:57.eurozone and acknowledged that China's trade surplus was bad for
:13:57. > :14:02.global stability. Rebels in western Libya say they
:14:02. > :14:06.are consolidating their position near to Tripoli. Rebels in eastern
:14:06. > :14:09.area say that they are ready to discuss a political settlement with
:14:09. > :14:13.the government in Tripoli if Colonel Gaddafi and his circle
:14:13. > :14:18.leave power. The trial of the four surviving
:14:18. > :14:24.senior members of the Khmer Rouge has begun in the capital, Phnom
:14:24. > :14:27.Penh. The defendants face charges of genocide, crimes against
:14:27. > :14:33.humanity and war crimes over the best of 2 million people during Pol
:14:33. > :14:37.Pot's regime in the 70s. -- the death of.
:14:37. > :14:40.The Education Secretary has warned that teachers in England and Wales
:14:40. > :14:44.taking strike next Thursday will harm the reputation of their
:14:45. > :14:48.profession. Thousands of teachers are expected to walk out over
:14:48. > :14:54.changes to their pensions. Michael Gove says the action would be a
:14:54. > :14:58.mistake. They do not look like they are
:14:58. > :15:02.angry and planning for the ultimate action. Some of the teachers at
:15:02. > :15:07.this gathering in Surrey know they are on the brink of a mass walkout.
:15:07. > :15:12.They are among 750,000 workers who believe the march against the cuts
:15:12. > :15:16.was not enough. They are planning industrial action on Thursday,
:15:16. > :15:19.which could shut down the school system. It is something the
:15:19. > :15:25.Education Secretary believes parents will find it hard to
:15:25. > :15:28.forgive. Let's not have the sort of militancy that will disturb family
:15:28. > :15:36.life for hundreds of thousands of across the country and will mark a
:15:36. > :15:41.retrograde step for the profession. It's the dispute is over pensions.
:15:41. > :15:44.The Government believes that population changes make the current
:15:44. > :15:48.arrangements arms that -- unsustainable and a new deal on
:15:48. > :15:52.public sector pensions is crucial, especially if numbers are to adopt
:15:52. > :15:56.on reducing the deficit. But the teaching unions claimed the
:15:56. > :16:01.proposals mean paying more in and maybe getting less out when
:16:01. > :16:04.retirement comes. One has accused the Government of stealing. If the
:16:04. > :16:07.Government gets away with doing a Robert Maxwell on our pensions,
:16:07. > :16:10.there will be no honourable teaching profession. Good teachers
:16:10. > :16:15.will not want to enter the profession because it will not be
:16:15. > :16:20.worth it. Union negotiators are due here tomorrow to meet with the
:16:21. > :16:24.Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude. For the Association of
:16:24. > :16:26.Teachers and Lecturers is the first time in over 100 years that its
:16:26. > :16:30.members have gone on a national strike. But the Government has
:16:30. > :16:35.little room to manoeuvre on this. Rewriting the pensions funds, it
:16:35. > :16:45.says, it is a key part of its deficit reduction plan.
:16:45. > :16:48.
:16:48. > :16:56.That's it from me but now it is time for HARDtalk.
:16:56. > :17:02.Thailand's divisions are defined by colour. These range jetted
:17:02. > :17:06.opponents of the current government are followers of former Prime
:17:06. > :17:10.Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted five years ago in a military coup.
:17:10. > :17:19.He has since been convicted of corruption and lives in Dubai. But
:17:19. > :17:23.his shadows still hangs over it Thai politics. Not least because
:17:23. > :17:29.his younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is now leading the main
:17:29. > :17:34.opposition party into the elections. Though a political novice, she
:17:34. > :17:41.could beat Thailand's next Prime Minister. She would not sit down
:17:41. > :17:51.for a HARDtalk into view but I did manage to grab a few words. How
:17:51. > :17:52.
:17:52. > :17:59.confident are you of winning this election? I am confident. But there
:17:59. > :18:06.are still more -- two more weeks to go. We have to visit more people.
:18:06. > :18:12.We have to make sure that our policy has been explained. What is
:18:13. > :18:21.your basic message to the Thai people? We will help them to
:18:21. > :18:30.improve the wealth of the country. That is the way to generate income.
:18:30. > :18:40.Our policy is good for all people. Do you want your brother to come
:18:40. > :18:40.
:18:40. > :18:44.back to Thailand? My first priority will be to help the country. My
:18:44. > :18:50.brother would not get any benefits, special benefits. He will get the
:18:50. > :18:55.same as anybody. I will not set the policy for my family. I was set the
:18:55. > :18:59.policy for solving pylon's polis -- problems. Many of your supporters
:18:59. > :19:05.and many of the Red Shirts want to see your brother come home. If you
:19:05. > :19:15.are the leader, you could do that. I have to do the country benefit
:19:15. > :19:20.
:19:20. > :19:25.first. Thank you very much. Wander around the streets of
:19:25. > :19:29.central Bangkok and by day, amid all of the traffic and the high-
:19:29. > :19:33.rise construction and the shopping malls, and you get a sense of a
:19:33. > :19:39.fast-growing Asian economy. And yet just one year ago, these very
:19:39. > :19:43.streets were the scene of a bitter confrontation between protesters
:19:43. > :19:48.and the Thai army. Just over there you can see a building that is
:19:48. > :19:53.still under repair, having been burnt out a year ago. More than 90
:19:53. > :19:58.people were killed in that violence. The question is, could it happen
:19:58. > :20:03.again? My guest today is the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit
:20:04. > :20:13.Vejajjiva. Could Thailand's development be derailed by
:20:14. > :20:28.
:20:28. > :20:32.Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, welcome to HARDtalk. Pleasure.
:20:32. > :20:36.Thailand's recent history has been disfigured by military coups, and
:20:36. > :20:40.political violence. Do you accept that this coming election is a
:20:40. > :20:46.massive test of Thailand's commitment to democracy? It is a
:20:46. > :20:50.test for that. I am confident that the country will prove to the rest
:20:50. > :20:56.of the world that our democracy is maturing and is resilient. You talk
:20:56. > :20:59.about the history of Thailand, having troubled political ties. We
:20:59. > :21:04.have also proven that the Thai economy has been remarkably
:21:04. > :21:08.resilient. We have turned things around from the impact of the
:21:08. > :21:12.global financial crisis very quickly. We have got very low
:21:12. > :21:17.unemployment. All indicators are showing the strength and stability
:21:17. > :21:21.of the economy. Sure. But the markets are also desperate to see
:21:21. > :21:25.long-term stability. I would say that right now they are not
:21:25. > :21:29.convinced. There is uncertainty. There is uncertainty every time
:21:29. > :21:32.there is an election because there is competition. There is an
:21:32. > :21:38.atmosphere of uncertainty in the markets. But after the elections
:21:38. > :21:42.things will become clearer. Yes. An interesting comment. The truth is,
:21:42. > :21:46.the opinion polls seem to have a clear message in the run-up to the
:21:46. > :21:53.elections. That is, you enjoy Democrat Party are behind. Why is
:21:53. > :21:57.that? We are slightly behind. I think we suffer like all government
:21:57. > :22:01.suffer in times where people face higher prices. They look to the
:22:01. > :22:06.government to help them. But we are taking our message out. We're
:22:06. > :22:12.saying that there is a lot we are already doing to help them in terms
:22:12. > :22:16.of subsidising cooking gas, making sure that diesel price does not get
:22:16. > :22:20.out of control. At the same time we have got concrete policies to
:22:20. > :22:25.increase people's income, the minimum wage... Let me stop you
:22:25. > :22:28.there. You have just mentioned a series of policy which struck me as
:22:28. > :22:33.reminiscent of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
:22:33. > :22:37.Appealing to the poor. The difference is that you do not
:22:37. > :22:44.appear to succeed. That is not true. Everybody needs to work for the
:22:44. > :22:48.people. The poor are the ones who need help first. When we address
:22:48. > :22:52.the economic crisis a couple of years ago, it was clear that our
:22:52. > :22:57.programme was designed to help the most vulnerable. Here is what one
:22:57. > :23:01.very senior Thai politicians said to me about you. He said, the
:23:01. > :23:09.problem is, Abhisit Vejajjiva never looked comfortable when he is in a
:23:09. > :23:16.rice paddy. Well... You find it difficult to connect with the poor
:23:16. > :23:22.rural Thai people. I find that odd. This is the eight election campaign
:23:22. > :23:25.I have been involved in. I need a lot of people, rural people mostly.
:23:26. > :23:33.You should have followed me out there. I thought you would come
:23:33. > :23:39.with me. You will see how we can get. It is not easy when you are
:23:39. > :23:45.very educated, have that sort of elite background. But I have spent
:23:45. > :23:48.20 years with the people. As soon as I graduated, I spent a year
:23:48. > :23:53.working at a university. When I was old enough the first thing I did
:23:53. > :23:58.was to run for a seat in Parliament. Ever since, all of my work has been
:23:58. > :24:02.connected with people. That is why it people understand that the
:24:02. > :24:05.programmes that we have implemented are not the ones they want to lose.
:24:05. > :24:10.But maybe they want a sense of radicalism that you are not able to
:24:10. > :24:20.offer. There is, it seems, a feeling in this country that the
:24:20. > :24:21.
:24:21. > :24:27.gap between rich and poor is simply too wide. You should look at the
:24:27. > :24:31.numbers. For the first time when we have economic crisis, we have
:24:31. > :24:35.engineered a recovery for the poor. It seems to me that what is at
:24:35. > :24:42.stake in these were let -- election is a tide judgement on five
:24:42. > :24:45.tumultuous years, going back to their 2006 Coupe, then the troubled
:24:45. > :24:50.history of Thaksin Shinawatra and the red shirts and everything that
:24:50. > :24:54.has come over those five years. I would like to ask you, do you
:24:54. > :24:59.regret any of the things you have done as leader of your party and
:24:59. > :25:04.Prime Minister with regard to the Red Shirts? Your decision to
:25:04. > :25:11.confront them? If you look at the to use that I have been through, I
:25:11. > :25:16.never started these confrontations. -- two years. I offered solutions.
:25:16. > :25:20.I negotiated. I made solid proposals about early elections at
:25:21. > :25:24.least three times. Every single time it was turned down because
:25:24. > :25:33.there was nothing for Thaksin Shinawatra, particularly by the
:25:33. > :25:37.amnesty, the red shirts, had elements of violence. You have
:25:37. > :25:42.accused them of terrorism? That was after they engaged with armed
:25:42. > :25:48.groups of people, firing and watching grenades at people and
:25:48. > :25:53.officials. But my point is this. I made solid offers about early
:25:53. > :25:58.elections, about how we might move the country for wit and address the
:25:58. > :26:01.inequality issue. Every time it was rejected because there was nothing
:26:02. > :26:07.for Thaksin Shinawatra. The bottom line is, that is what they want on
:26:07. > :26:13.the top of their agenda. The Red Shirts have been manipulated. We
:26:13. > :26:20.are trying to engage them into a dialogue. My point about the
:26:20. > :26:24.violence is this. You talk about the violence of the Red Shirts. Let
:26:24. > :26:30.us not forget there was also violence in 2008 sparked by the
:26:30. > :26:33.yellow shirts. They took over two of Thailand's airports. They
:26:33. > :26:37.besieged and attack the Prime Minister's office. There was a lot
:26:38. > :26:42.of violence before you came to power. What many critics of your
:26:42. > :26:45.government says, look at what Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva has done
:26:45. > :26:49.to the Red Shirts. He has locked many of them are. Look at what he
:26:50. > :26:55.has done to the yellow shirts. He has not overseen the conviction and
:26:55. > :27:00.locking up of any of them. This is all according to the due process of
:27:00. > :27:04.law. I have not interviewed with any of these cases. All I have said
:27:04. > :27:08.is that they should speed things up. I have instructed the police and
:27:08. > :27:12.all of the agencies concerned that they should move these cases
:27:12. > :27:21.forward as best they can. Why do you believe they have moved so much
:27:21. > :27:27.quicker? The cases against the Red Shirts back in 2007 are probably
:27:27. > :27:30.more slow or as low as the yellow shirts in 2008. The reasons why
:27:30. > :27:36.recent cases in recent events have been faster is because most of the
:27:36. > :27:40.arrests were made on the spot. Whereas with the events of 2007-
:27:40. > :27:44.hour wait is over stop the investigations need to probe into
:27:44. > :27:48.the witnesses and so on. Could it be that there are some people
:27:48. > :27:54.inside the Democrat Party who joined the yellow shirts? Could
:27:54. > :27:59.that be a factor? I do not think so. I have instructed the police that
:27:59. > :28:05.they should move ahead. My Foreign Minister has been charged. There is
:28:05. > :28:14.no discrimination. Let me ask you about a basic truth in Thai
:28:14. > :28:18.politics. Thaksin Shinawatra was convicted of corruption. He went
:28:18. > :28:24.into self-imposed exile. Is it not true that Thaksin Shinawatra is
:28:24. > :28:31.still a spectre who hangs over this country and in particular over your
:28:31. > :28:37.political future? He has been Prime Minister for 5-6 years. A very
:28:37. > :28:40.dominating figure in politics. He almost silenced the opposition. He
:28:40. > :28:45.continues to dominate. Of course there has been some good things he
:28:45. > :28:49.has done. Those are programmes that I have no hesitation in continuing
:28:49. > :28:55.his they benefit the people. But that does not take away from the
:28:55. > :29:01.fact that on his record there are corruption charges and convictions,
:29:01. > :29:06.accusations of human rights abuse. Accusations of terrorism by some
:29:06. > :29:10.close to you. Do you believe that Thaksin Shinawatra is responsible
:29:10. > :29:14.for Quote unquote terrorism? He is responsible for inciting the red
:29:14. > :29:21.shirts to come. There are good reasons to believe that the
:29:21. > :29:26.violence that took place was something that he was well aware of
:29:26. > :29:33.and did not stop. Where does that leave Thailand today? The poll say
:29:34. > :29:38.that the party Pheu Thai Party led by his sister its may win this
:29:38. > :29:48.election. That is for the Thai people to decide. They will make
:29:48. > :29:51.
:29:51. > :29:59.that decision and we will respect We will all respect that decision?
:29:59. > :30:04.Are you confident that is true. So if Yingluck Shinawatra wins, you
:30:04. > :30:10.will accept she has a legitimate Mandrake to govern this country?
:30:11. > :30:14.will say that she has the first shocked -- mandate. She has already
:30:14. > :30:17.said she will not work with this or that party, so the numbers will
:30:17. > :30:22.dictate who forms the government. If any party wins the most number
:30:22. > :30:29.of seats it gets there first shop. If it wins an outright majority
:30:29. > :30:35.these questions are academic -- shot. Do you believe that if she
:30:35. > :30:40.wins a majority that the government will, in essence, be controlled by
:30:40. > :30:44.her brother Thaksin Shinawatra? Well, they are already campaigning
:30:44. > :30:52.that somehow he will be in control and their priority is to whitewash
:30:52. > :30:59.him. She says that she is considering a general amnesty and
:30:59. > :31:03.that it will... I think that comes after there has been a strong
:31:03. > :31:09.reaction over the proposal made earlier by her party that there
:31:09. > :31:15.will be a law passed to bring Thaksin Shinawatra back. She is not
:31:15. > :31:19.saying that... The first thing she assigned on this issue... I spoke
:31:20. > :31:23.to her myself... She said that there will be no special treatment
:31:23. > :31:27.bought Thaksin Shinawatra... Does that mean that everybody who is on
:31:27. > :31:34.corruption charges will be whitewashed? I am asking you how
:31:34. > :31:43.you would react about the general amnesty. The pure Thai party came
:31:43. > :31:51.out and spoke clearly that they intended to whitewashed Thaksin
:31:51. > :31:58.Shinawatra -- Pheu Thai Party. he is allowed to come back, do you
:31:58. > :32:02.believe the army will accept it? hope that whoever wins the
:32:02. > :32:06.elections would not put his interests before the people's and
:32:06. > :32:11.the country's. I would strongly advise against such a move. It
:32:11. > :32:16.would bring instability and more conflict. It is the last thing
:32:16. > :32:19.people need. People on their issues addressed. Issues about high prices,
:32:19. > :32:25.about drugs. We should work to make sure there is a government to
:32:25. > :32:29.address those issues rather than stick with Thaksin Shinawatra's
:32:29. > :32:32.politics. You are being diplomatic and entering in your own way, but I
:32:32. > :32:36.think the people would like an answer - you think there is bound
:32:36. > :32:41.to be political instability if an effort is made to bring Thaksin
:32:41. > :32:48.Shinawatra back to this country. think, and I am saying this to the
:32:48. > :32:54.people of Thailand and the rest of the world, we should not encourage
:32:54. > :32:57.a government who puts one man's interest before the people's. We do
:32:58. > :33:02.not want it to happen and we hope on 3rd July the Thai people will
:33:02. > :33:09.show was it is not what they want. I spoke to the former Thai Prime
:33:09. > :33:19.Minister on this issue and he said that he hoped that the army would
:33:19. > :33:21.
:33:21. > :33:28.not intervene in the case of eight Pure type of position victory. --
:33:28. > :33:35.Pheu Thai Party opposition victory. It was a different situation. I
:33:35. > :33:40.came out against the group. I was probably the first leader in
:33:40. > :33:45.Thailand to come out against the coup. So they should not for one
:33:45. > :33:54.second consider intervention, if Yingluck Shinawatra and the pure
:33:54. > :34:04.Thai party win this election? is right. Let strengthen our
:34:04. > :34:05.
:34:05. > :34:09.democracy. -- pure Type party. had the cheek of the army going on
:34:09. > :34:13.television a few nights ago and saying - this is a quote - I want
:34:13. > :34:16.to tell the media, do not cause problems for this country. Do you
:34:16. > :34:25.think that sort of relationship between the military, public life
:34:25. > :34:29.and politics is acceptable? -- the chief of the military. You have to
:34:29. > :34:35.put things in perspective. We have an independent commission who is
:34:35. > :34:41.overseeing it. Why does the army need to run television... We passed
:34:41. > :34:47.a law that will now set up a commission that will we allocate
:34:47. > :34:51.these natural resources... This has got to change. You have said to the
:34:51. > :34:55.army - you will not be a dominant figure any more in the media. Would
:34:55. > :34:59.you like to take this opportunity to tell the army chief that he
:34:59. > :35:05.should not be going on television making veiled threats? I think that
:35:05. > :35:10.is very unfair on what he said. We have got stations and parts of the
:35:10. > :35:13.media, some people here in Thailand call it a fake media, which are
:35:13. > :35:18.inciting people to violence. That is the kind of activity he is
:35:18. > :35:22.warning about. Is that why you close down 13 community radio
:35:22. > :35:26.stations, which Human Rights Watch said was another egregious example
:35:26. > :35:30.of censorship in this country? station has been closed for its
:35:30. > :35:36.political views. Well, they all happened to be sympathetic to the
:35:36. > :35:41.Red Shirts. So many media sensitive to the Red Shirts are not... It is
:35:41. > :35:46.a remarkable coincidence - 13 radio stations and all of them were
:35:46. > :35:50.sympathetic. They were inciting violence against the state. I think
:35:50. > :35:55.many of them seemed to fall foul of the latest Majesty laws, didn't
:35:55. > :36:01.they? Me at is part of the Criminal Code and security law. -- that his
:36:01. > :36:05.our part. Just for those who were not familiar with the majesty laws,
:36:05. > :36:10.let's remind ourselves - article 112 of the criminal code says that
:36:10. > :36:16.whether the fames, insults or threatens the king, queen, era
:36:16. > :36:20.apparent, will be subject to imprisonment up to 15 years. Do you
:36:20. > :36:24.think that, when we are talking about reforming high society, that
:36:24. > :36:28.law needs to be looked at and changed? It is certainly being
:36:28. > :36:33.looked at in the form of making sure that enforcement of that law
:36:33. > :36:38.is not being abused. I set up a special advisory council to look
:36:38. > :36:42.into this because I think, in the past, the law had been either
:36:42. > :36:46.abused or too liberally interpreted. You say you are considering reforms
:36:46. > :36:50.and you have a committee looking at it, when reporters Without borders,
:36:50. > :36:58.a campaign group looking at press freedom, they say this law has been
:36:58. > :37:03.used to target all media that is close to or support the opposition.,
:37:03. > :37:06.that is not true. You have to look at the context. They're not being
:37:06. > :37:10.taken to court, they are not being prosecuted because of political
:37:10. > :37:14.views. It is hard to take your position seriously when so many
:37:14. > :37:22.independent observers from outside, and I quote ahead of human Rights
:37:22. > :37:27.Watch Asia, they say that you have become the most fervent sense that
:37:27. > :37:31.in recent high history. That is not true. When I was in the opposition
:37:31. > :37:35.are hardly had in the media space during Thaksin Shinawatra's time.
:37:35. > :37:40.These days you see opposition figures on newspapers, television,
:37:40. > :37:47.radio all the time. We cannot tolerate comments that incite
:37:47. > :37:52.violence or violate laws. Is it time, and this law is about doing
:37:52. > :37:55.damage to the king and his family, is it time to have an open and
:37:55. > :38:01.transparent debate about the future of the constitutional monarchy in
:38:01. > :38:08.this country's which is why I set up this special committee. -- this
:38:08. > :38:14.is why I set up the special committee. That is why. I am
:38:14. > :38:20.talking about the former Prime Minister - he says that, frankly,
:38:20. > :38:23.the mark and the people around him are revered and respected, but they
:38:23. > :38:28.have to learn that respect and it is time to be more open about the
:38:28. > :38:36.way the monarchy is run. And we are saying that these kind of
:38:36. > :38:40.discussions are OK. You want a full and frank discussion... To the rest
:38:40. > :38:45.of the world, first of all you have to make a distinction between
:38:45. > :38:51.academic opinions and political opinions about the role of the
:38:51. > :39:01.monarchy and comments that basic week are wild allegations that
:39:01. > :39:04.caused damage -- that basically our wild allegations. The monarchy has
:39:04. > :39:07.no self-protection mechanism. We don't want them to be party to
:39:07. > :39:13.conflict with the people. That is why this law exists. We want to
:39:13. > :39:17.make sure the law is not abused. The work towards that goal began
:39:17. > :39:21.during my government. Before we end, let's look forward for a few days.
:39:21. > :39:26.Neither of us can be sure how this election will turn out. It will
:39:26. > :39:29.probably be very close. I talked at the beginning about the history of
:39:29. > :39:35.political instability in this country. Do you fear there may be
:39:35. > :39:39.more instability? More violence after the selection? I know there
:39:39. > :39:44.are people who are willing to use violence and cause instability. I
:39:44. > :39:49.will do all I can to make sure it doesn't happen and I am confident
:39:49. > :39:54.that Thai democracy and Thai society and the people in Thailand
:39:54. > :40:00.will Brussels to be resilient. you will do all you can even if you
:40:00. > :40:03.lose? -- will prove to be. And if you win - you have talked about
:40:03. > :40:09.reform and your intentions to reform - how profound will the
:40:09. > :40:14.change be in the next 4-5 years Abhisit Vejjajiva is Prime
:40:14. > :40:21.Minister? I been I will tackle all the structural issues. Including
:40:21. > :40:25.the military? Well, the military - you mention that - it is funny.
:40:25. > :40:28.They have been dominating in some security policies in the south
:40:29. > :40:32.during Thaksin Shinawatra's years. We changed that and they co-
:40:32. > :40:36.operated. The work has already begun. I will move the country
:40:36. > :40:40.forward and tackle the more difficult issues, structural issues.
:40:41. > :40:46.Once that I didn't have sufficient time in my first termtoo. Five
:40:46. > :40:56.years, to face. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva - thank you for
:40:56. > :41:12.
:41:12. > :41:16.Abhisit Vejjajiva - thank you for being on HARDtalk.
:41:17. > :41:21.Many places have had heatwave conditions and they continue today.
:41:21. > :41:25.Very humid today, it will trigger some heavy thunderstorms. Scotland
:41:25. > :41:29.and Northern Ireland is cloudy with patchy rain. A hot it comes
:41:29. > :41:34.northwards and it will trigger some heavy showers. England and Wales
:41:34. > :41:37.start hot and sunny. Showers in the south-west. This hot weather
:41:37. > :41:43.extends up the eastern coast to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The
:41:43. > :41:48.highs are in the 30s. As we head through Monday evening they
:41:48. > :41:55.humidity Klein's in the south-east and will draw up some showers. --
:41:55. > :42:00.she admitted he climbs. Some hail and thunder may be likely from this.