Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has publicly admitted she is facing an unsolvable deadlock over violent protests.
Ms Shinawatra said she was willing to do anything it took to restore peace, but could not accept the opposition’s “unconstitutional” demand to hand power to an unelected council.
Her comments, in a televised news conference, highlighted the unusual political deadlock Thailand finds itself in with no clear solution in sight even as violence on the streets continues to rise.
As she spoke, street battles between protesters and police that started over the weekend intensified.
Protesters commandeered bin lorries and bulldozers and tried to ram concrete barriers at Government House and other key offices. Police struggled to repel them by firing tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets, as protesters shot back explosives from homemade rocket launchers
The protests aimed at toppling Ms Yingluck’s government have renewed fears of prolonged instability in one of south-east Asia’s biggest economies and comes just ahead of the peak holiday tourist season. At least three people were killed and more than 200 injured in three days of violence, which capped a week of massive street rallies that drew crowds of more than 100,000.
“If there’s anything I can do to bring peace back to the people I am happy to do it,” Ms Yingluck said.
“The government is more than willing to have talks, but I cannot see a way out of this problem that is within the law and in the constitution.”
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who met Ms Yingluck on Sunday, has said he will not be satisfied with her resignation or new elections.
He wants an unelected “people’s council” to pick a new prime minister who would replace her, even though she was elected with an overwhelming majority.
“I don’t know how we can proceed”, she said. “We don’t know how to make it happen. Right now we don’t see any way to resolve the problem under the constitution.”
She cited Mr Suthep’s repeated statements that he will not be satisfied even if she steps down to end the deadlock, and implied that she was willing to hold fresh elections if that helps.
“I am not against resignation or dissolution of parliament if this will stop the protests,” she said. “The government is not trying to cling to power.”