Thai riot police on Monday used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to repel protesters who renewed their assault on key government installations in the capital.

Thousands of protesters tried to overcome barricades to enter Government House, the cabinet headquarters, and the Metropolitan Polcie Bureau, in western Bangkok, but were initially beaten back, witnesses said.

The protesters have been seeking to occupy government offices since November 24 in a campaign to paralyze the government.

Police on Sunday used tear gas and water cannon to repel protesters trying to enter several government buildings, including the municipal police headquarters.

At least three people died and about 50 were injured over the weekend, according to government figures, after anti- and pro-government groups clashed in eastern Bangkok.

Demonstrators have occupied the Budget Bureau and a complex of ministries’ offices since last week.

They also occupied the main state-owned television stations on Sunday, forcing the broadcast of a speech by protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban urging all civil servants to stop working until the political crisis ends.

Suthep – a former deputy prime minister who resigned from the Democrat Party to lead the protests – said in a meeting with Yingluck late on Sunday that the government had lost legitimacy and should dissolve within two days.

Suthep has vowed to uproot the “Thaksin regime,” a reference to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s elder brother and the de facto leader of her Pheu Thai Party. Suthep said he wants the country to be put under a “People’s Assembly”.

Responding on Monday, Yingluck said Suhtep’s demands were unconstitutional.

“I don’t mean that we reject their request but we don’t know how to make it happen,” Yingluck said, adding that she was open to suggestions on resolving the political crisis from all groups.

The crisis started on November 1, when the ruling coalition attempted to pass an amnesty through parliament that would have pardoned Thaksin and others involved in thousands of politically related cases during 2004-13.

The amnesty bill was later rejected by the Senate.

Thaksin has been living abroad since 2008 to avoid a two-year jail sentence for abuse of power. He was prime minister during 2001 to 2006, before being ousted by a coup.

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