DHAKA: Thailand’s opposition is meeting on Saturday to mull a possible boycott of snap elections in a crunch weekend for the crisis-gripped kingdom as protesters prepare to ramp up rallies aimed at toppling the government.

The opposition Democrat Party, whose MPs resigned en masse to join the demonstrations, is set to hold talks on whether to participate in February 2 polls called by embattled prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Bangkok has seen weeks of street marches, with protesters invading government buildings and gathering in their thousands in the latest eruption of political unrest in the turbulent nation.

The protests are calling for democracy to be suspended and want to rid the country of Yingluck and the influence of her brother Thaksin, an ousted billionaire ex-premier who is despised by a coalition of the southern Thai poor, Bangkok middle classes and elite, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1428 HRS, DEC 21, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor