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Thais Go To The Polls Sunday
 Thailand on Sunday holds its second general election in a year, with embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra set to win again in a polls marred by boycott by the main opposition parties and a call by an anti-Thaksin group for voters to tick "no vote" or abstain from voting.Under Thailand's election process, voting is mandatory and about 45 million people of the country's 64 million population are eligible to vote to elect members to the House of Representatives which is made up of 500 members of parliament (MPs). Up to 400 of them are elected on a constituency basis and 100 from party lists, with the number appointed depending on the total number of votes obtained by the contesting parties. Although TRT is expected to romp home in most constituencies due to the declared boycott by the main opposition parties -- the Democrat, Chat Thai and Mahachon -- the Election Commission (EC) pointed out that the election was unlikely to return the 500 MPs required to form a new parliament. There are nearly 200 constituencies in nearly 60 provinces across the country where TRT candidates will stand unchallenged, but to win they need to get at least 20 per cent of the votes cast, which looks impossible especially in the Democrat Party's stronghold in the restive southern provinces. Last year, TRT only won one seat compared to 52 by the Democrats in the south where more than 1,000 people have been killed in violence in the past two years. In the capital, street demonstrations organised by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to oust Thaksin had been taking place almost daily but Thaksin has vowed to carry on and leave his fate to the voters. The 56-year-old billionaire reiterated that he would step down if the ruling party did not receive half of the votes in tomorrow's election. Speculation has been rife that Thaksin will hand over the post to a trusted TRT figure before coming back in another election within a year after amendments are made to the constitution and to cool down the current political tension. TRT's standing shot up ahead of the election after news emerged that his staunch critic and PAD leading figure Sondhi Limthongkul went to China yesterday, sparking rumours that he fled the country to avoid being charged for offending the king in an interview with a local newspaper. Tension has been running high ahead of the election, with pro- and anti-Thaksin demonstrators venting their anger at various establishments in the capital, including newspaper outlets, the Election Commission and the Singapore Embassy, which came under fire following the Thaksin family's sale of Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings. Whatever the outcome tomorrow, the political crisis looks unlikely to end soon as PAD has scheduled another rally on April 7 to keep its pressure on Thaksin to leave for good. But the biggest loser could be the Thai economy as the signs are already there, especially in terms of foreign direct investment and the lucrative tourism sector which saw 60,000 tourists from China and Singapore cancelling their visits to the kingdom due to the current turmoil. Posted by: Pappy 2006-04-01 |
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