Election uncertainty, new political crisis looms
Even if he wins, the premier will not manage to form a new government; the quorum of 20% required by the Constitution to nullify the electoral process has not been reached. Catholics have been urged to vote while the Buddhists are critical of Thaksin.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) Official results of the Thai ballot are not out yet, but it appears that the outgoing premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, will find himself facing a new national crisis because of the large number of abstentions in the central and southern parts of the country.
The election took place yesterday and the Electoral Commission said definitive results will not be out until Tuesday 4 April. Unofficial sources said candidates of the majority party Thai Rak Thai, led by the premier, were defeated in 27 out of 36 Bangkok constituencies.
Political analysts said that in any case it "will be difficult" for the new government to form a coalition to lead the country because it will not garner 20% out of the total of votes, the minimum required by the Constitution to form a new government.
Some incidents in polling booths were reported: at least four people were arrested for destroying the ballot boxes in their districts. Chaiyan Chaiyaporn, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, tore up his ballot paper. Similar cases were reported in Surat Thani, Patalung and Ayudhaya.
Pravej Wasi, a retired doctor of Siriraj Hospital (the oldest government hospital in Bangkok), who is also a political analyst, said: "The real problem of the nation will not be resolved by the vote because although the premier will gain a national majority, because his party was often the only one contesting, the conflict of interests that forced him to dissolve the House of Parliament has not been solved. The tension might foster bloodshed among the Thais."
The dissolution of Parliament and the election were decided unilaterally by the prime minister after the opposition called for his resignation because of an alleged economic scandal involving him and his family. Thaksin refused to step down and instead he dissolved the legislative body: the response of the three major opposition parties was to launch a campaign for a boycott and to organize public protests that went on for more than two weeks.
The Catholic Church has frequently called on the nation to vote, saying it is the "right and duty of every citizen": at mass and in all parish bulletins, priests encouraged the faithful to "decide according to their conscience, but to go to vote".
The Buddhists, the majority in the country, took a different stand. On the day of the vote, Phrathammakosajarn, the abbot of the temple in the capital, Prayoonwongsawas, criticized the capitalism that has devoured the country with the advent of the premier, describing it as "the wrecker of Thai rural society".
He said: "These economic principles would have only women and children in rural areas, because men will be going around searching for work".
The abbot compared this theory to the "self-sufficient economy" launched in the fifties by the King, Bhumibol Adulayadej, which "safeguards ethical and moral values of Thai rural society that have been pushed aside by the prime minister".
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13/07/2006
