DHAKA: Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra proposed a referendum on her future on Sunday, promising to resign if that was what the people wanted, as anti-government protesters prepared for a final push to force her from power.

Protesters have been on the streets of the capital for weeks, clashing with police and vowing to oust Yingluck and eradicate the influence of her self-exiled brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The demonstrations are the latest eruption in nearly a decade of rivalry between forces aligned with the Bangkok-based establishment and those who support Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon who won huge support in the countryside with pro-poor policies.

The leader of the anti-government protesters, Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister of the pro-establishment Democrat Party, has called for a final demonstration on Monday to force Yingluck out.

Yingluck said in a televised statement her government was searching for ways to end the conflict, reports The Straits Times.

‘We should conduct a referendum so that people can decide what we should do,’ she said.

BDST: 1521 HRS, DEC 08, 2013