BANGKOK, 6 June 2011 – The National Police Bureau has asked the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to have all the ‘vote no’ posters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) removed from the streets.
National Police Spokesperson Police Major General Prawut Thavornsiri stated that the BMA have the authority to remove ‘vote no’ posters from streets under the Cleanliness Act and the Advertisement Billboards Act since such posters are not for election campaigns.
The decision of the police came after the EC announced that removals of vote-no posters are out of its jurisdiction since they are not campaigning for any political parties.
The vote-no posters raised by the PAD features animals such as buffalo, monitor lizard, dog, monkey and tiger wearing suits similar to humans. The posters encourage people to vote no in the upcoming 3 July general election and tell people not to let ‘animals’ go into Parliament.
Earlier, Pheu Thai Party Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit asked the EC to take legal action and remove the posters from the streets since they are inappropriate, tarnish national image and can mislead perception about democracy among people, especially children and youth.
