【英语国际】阿披实笼络泰国中间派

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is launching a charm offensive in an effort to win over the political middle ground after the worst political violence in modern Thai history, saying he is more interested in securing peace than holding onto power.

But the aftermath of May's bloody street battles and a deepening feud with ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra show that Mr. Abhisit has a long way to go.

Early Monday, Mr. Thaksin's legal team said it had hired a Dutch war-crimes specialist to investigate whether it can prosecute Mr. Abhisit's government overseas for alleged human-rights abuses during the Thai army's May 19 crackdown on opposition protesters. Though it's unclear whether such a case would be accepted, if it were, it could embarrass Thai authorities.

In his weekly televised address Sunday, Mr. Abhisit, 46 years old, said he will invite people from across Thailand's political spectrum to find ways to bridge the economic and social gaps that helped drive the protests before he calls an election, which he must do by the end of 2011.

Mr. Abhisit met with foreign diplomats and reporters on Saturday to explain how he hopes to heal the deep wounds dividing Thailand, an important tourist destination and a manufacturing and export hub for many global businesses. Elections are unlikely this year, he told them. What's more important, Mr. Abhisit said, is to cement Thailand's economic revival and find some common ground with moderate members of the opposition Red Shirt protest movement, whose two-month rally for fresh polls led to the deaths of at least 88 people and a series of arson attacks as the army cordoned off the protests on May 19.

Thailand's stock-exchange headquarters and its biggest shopping mall were among the buildings firebombed in a day of violence that further polarized relations between the Red Shirts' mostly provincial sympathizers and Bangkok's urban middle classes.

Yet some analysts say the biggest challenge for the prime minister, an Oxford-educated economist, is how to deal with Mr. Thaksin, the former populist prime minister now wanted on terrorism charges for allegedly orchestrating much of the violence in Bangkok.

The terrorism charge could ramp up tensions on other fronts. Last week, Mr. Thaksin told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that he and his lawyers were assessing whether a case could be brought against Mr. Abhisit's government for human-rights violations associated with the army crackdown at an international court, possibly the International Criminal Court at The Hague, the Netherlands. Early Monday, Mr. Thaksin's legal team said it has hired Netherlands-based lawyer G.J. Alexander Knoops, who previously has been involved in cases involving the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Thai officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment, but government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn has previously said that top government and security officials were confident of explaining their actions at a parliamentary censure motion scheduled to begin Monday, as well as a planned independent inquiry into the shootings.

Mr. Abhisit says he is determined to strengthen the rule of law in Thailand to prepare the ground for peaceful elections some time before the end of next year, though a state of emergency remains in place in Bangkok and 23 other provinces around the country. On Saturday, the government lifted a nighttime curfew in those areas that had been in effect since May 19.

泰国爆发现代史上最严重的政治暴力事件后，总理阿披实(Abhisit Vejjajiva)正在发动一场魅力攻势来赢得政治中间派的人心。他说，相比紧握手中大权，他更感兴趣的是实现泰国的安定和平。

但5月份流血巷战留下的创伤，以及与被逐领导人他信(Thaksin Shinawatra)越来越深的宿怨，意味着阿披实实现国内和平任重而道远。

European Pressphoto Agency泰国总理阿披实他信的法律团队周一早上说，已聘请一位荷兰籍战争犯罪专家展开调查，以确定该团队是否可以在海外起诉阿披实政府，控告它在5月19日泰国军队镇压反对派示威者期间践踏人权。这种案件是否会被受理还不得而知，不过一旦受理，泰国当局可能会陷入尴尬。

46岁的阿披实在周日的每周电视讲话中说，他将在召开大选以前，邀请泰国各个政治派别的人士来一起想办法弥补泰国的经济、社会裂痕，而这种裂痕正是红衫军运动发生的原因之一。阿披实必须在2011年结束前召开大选。

泰国是一个重要的旅游目的地，也是很多跨国公司的制造与出口中枢。阿披实于周六会见外国外交人士和新闻记者，解释他是如何希望抚平造成泰国社会分裂的深刻创伤。阿披实对他们说，选举不太可能在今年举行。他说，更重要的是巩固泰国的经济复苏形势，同泰国红衫军示威运动中的温和派找到一些共同观点。红衫军为要求重新选举进行了为期两个月的集会，导致至少88人死亡，军方于5月19日封闭示威地区时还发生了多起纵火事件。

当天泰国证券交易所的总部和全国最大的购物广场都遭到纵火。这一天的暴力行为进一步分化了大多来自地方的红衫军同情者同曼谷城市中产阶级之间的关系。

一些分析人士说，牛津大学毕业的经济学者阿披实面临的最大挑战，还在于怎样处理他和民粹派前总理他信之间的关系。他信被控策划了发生在曼谷的多起暴力事件，现正因恐怖主义指控而受到通缉。

这种恐怖主义指控有可能激化泰国政府同其他阵营之间的矛盾。他信上周接受《华尔街日报》采访说，他和他的律师正在评估是否可以向一家国际法庭对阿披实政府提起诉讼，控告它在军事镇压过程中侵犯人权；这家法院可能是荷兰海牙的国际刑事法庭(International Criminal Court)。周一早上，他信的法律团队说，它已聘请常驻荷兰的律师库普(Alexander Knoops)。库普曾参与涉及前南斯拉夫、卢旺达和塞拉利昂的案件。

记者暂时未能联系到泰国官员置评，但泰国政府发言人帕尼坦(Panitan Wattanayagorn)此前曾说，在国会按计划于周一开始的一次不信任动议中，以及在拟对枪击事件发起的一场独立调查中，政府及军方高层官员都有把握对他们的行为做出解释。

阿披实说，他决心加强泰国的法治，为明年年底前某个时候举行和平选举奠定基础，但曼谷和全国其他23个省份仍将维持紧急状态。上周六，泰国政府取消了5月19日以来生效的针对这些地区的宵禁令。