Thai protesters refused to leave their Bangkok camp today and called on the prime minister to set a firm date for dissolving parliament.
An agreement to end two months of violent protests looked within reach as the "red shirt" protesters have responded positively to Abhisit Vejjajiva's offer of a November 14th election and other proposals to end a crisis in which 27 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded.
Asked today about the protesters' demand for a specific date for dissolution of parliament, Mr Abhisit told reporters it could be calculated based on his proposed election date.
Under the constitution, parliament must be dissolved 45 to 60 days before an election.
Asked it that meant dissolution would be between September 15th and 30th, Mr Abhisit replied: "Yes". That failed to convince the protesters.
"The reconciliation plan is very vague and Abhisit's promise is slippery. We have to make sure what we are getting before we declare victory," Weng Tojirakarn, one of their leaders, said from the stage at their barricaded encampment in the heart of Bangkok's commercial district.
The timing of elections is the most contentious issue in the plan floated by Mr Abhisit on Monday to end the crisis.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the stage in Bangkok on a wet concrete road following heavy rain in the early hours and surrounded by upmarket shopping malls and luxury hotels, many of which have been shut for weeks, at huge cost to the local economy.
However, at least one mall was making tentative plans to reopen, arranging for a clean-up, and the capital's mass transit rail systems said they had returned to normal operating hours.
Services have been ending early and some stations have been shut periodically since violence flared last month.
A state of emergency has been in force since April 7th and thousands of troops and riot police surround the encampment, out of sight most of the time or lounging around in small groups.
The red shirts mostly back former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, but more broadly they have developed into a movement of the rural and urban poor opposed to the power wielded by the aristocracy, army, business elite and Bangkok middle class.
They say Mr Abhisit came to power illegitimately in December 2008 when a pro-Thaksin administration fell after a court case and a new coalition was formed with the prodding of the military.
Reuters