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Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra survives a no-confidence vote in parliament
Protesters rally outside government offices, demanding she step down
Critics say Yingluck is a puppet for her brother, a former PM who was ousted in a coup
"The government is ready to open a space for dialogue," Yingluck says
Hundreds of protesters stormed army headquarters in Bangkok on Friday to demand help overthrowing the government, a military spokesman said.
Even after the 297-134 vote, demonstrations swelled in Bangkok.
“The government is ready to open a space for dialogue,” the embattled prime minster said in a brief televised statement after the vote. She added that officials are willing to “listen to all voices of people, including those who are still occupying the governmental offices.”
But a spokesman for Yingluck’s Pheu Thai Party said she would not resign or dissolve the parliament. “She will stay in power,” said Prompong Nopparit.
Protesters have been calling for an end to the government led by Yingluck, whose brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, is a telecommunications tycoon and former premier who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
Yingluck’s critics accuse her of being Thaksin’s puppet, a charge she denies.
Thaksin was a polarizing figure who was removed from power by the military in 2006, while he was in New York. Except for a brief return in 2008, he has lived in exile since then; Thai courts have convicted him of corruption and sentenced him in absentia to two years in prison.
Courts have also frozen billions of dollars of his assets, but he is believed to still have a great deal of money held elsewhere.
Meanwhile, thousands of anti-government demonstrators have kept up pressure on the Thai government in recent days by surrounding official buildings amid the highest tensions the country has seen since deadly unrest three years ago.
The number of demonstrators, led by the opposition Democrat Party, has declined from the huge gathering of roughly 100,000 people that assembled in Bangkok on Sunday.
READ: What’s behind Thailand protests?
Rising to a crescendo
The current round of protests was triggered in response to a government-backed amnesty bill that could have extended a pardon to Thaksin Shinawatra and opened the door for his return to Thailand.
The Thai senate rejected the bill on November 11, but opposition demonstrators have called since then for Yingluck’s government to be replaced.
More than three weeks of anti-government protests led by the Democrat Party rose to a crescendo with the big demonstration Sunday. The protesters have since taken their rallies directly to government offices, TV networks and military installations.
Yingluck has said authorities will “absolutely not use violence” to disperse the demonstrators. But the situation is delicate after Thai police issued an arrest warrant against protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban.
On Thursday, protesters pulled down electricity wires to the National Police Headquarters.
And while these protests have been peaceful, they evoke memories of the 2010 clashes in Bangkok between security forces and Thaksin supporters who demanded his return. Some 90 people, many of them civilians, were killed.
Paradon of the National Security Council said Wednesday that authorities are “sticking with negotiation” and trying to persuade Suthep to hand himself in.
Authorities have extended the areas around Bangkok where police are enforcing an internal security law that restricts gatherings by demonstrators.
READ: Business as usual despite protests
READ: Can Thailand’s first female PM Yingluck Shinawatra heal divided nation?
CNN’s Anna Coren contributed to this report.