At 13:00 hrs. Mr.Tharit Pengdit, Director-General, the Department of Special Investigations, briefed the press on the outcome of the
meeting of the Center For Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO) earlier in the day, gist as follows:

1. Following the petition to the Civil Court by Mr.Thavorn Sennium to overrule the use of the Emergency Decree, the CMPO will submit a statement to the Court pointing out that during the 2010 demonstrations, the Civil Court had issued a verdict indicating that the Emergency Decree was within the authority of the government and not under the purview of the Court. Therefore, the Court should apply the same principle to the current case.

2. The number of protesters at all protest sites on 16th February peaked at 20.00 hrs. with approximately 7,500 people. Clearly, the
number of protesters is continuously decreasing. The CMPO appreciated the public for not joining the demonstrations as well as not providing financial support.

3. The CMPO has cooperated with several government agencies to enable them to resume their functions after being blockaded by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC). 48 government agencies have resumed their functions and are ready to provide public services as normal.

4. The CMPO has received a report from the Metropolitan Police and Provincial Police regional commands regarding the legal proceedings against the election obstructions. So far, there are 160 cases involving election obstructions, 169 cases involving the failure of electoral officers to perform their duties, and 67 persons already faced arrest warrants.

5. The CMPO is carrying out operations to reclaim 5 rally sites from the PDRC protesters: Government House, the Government Complex at Chaeng Watthana, Ratchadamnoen Avenue, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Interior. The CMPO will take legal action against protesters who refuse to leave, following international standard practices.

The CMPO wished to reaffirm its intention not to use force against the protesters and the operations not to disperse the crowd.