Shinawatra may return to Thailand after election
A party set up by people loyal to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is on course to win Thailand’s election today.
Mr Thaksin was ousted from power by a military coup last year and lives in exile in the UK, where he owns Manchester City football club.
But his supporters say he may return to Thailand next month, sparking fears of political turbulence and sharp polarisation which has already plagued the country for two years.
The polls, which opened at 8am (1am Irish time), are being guarded by some 4,000 troops, most of them in southern Thailand where a Muslim insurgency has taken the lives of more than 2,600 people, said Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command.
The balloting, billed as Thailand’s return to democracy after 15 months of military-propped rule, will end seven hours later and unofficial results are expected before midnight (5pm Irish time today).
The election, supposed to restore democracy after the coup, comes after almost two years of intense political instability that began with popular demonstrations demanding that Mr Thaksin step down because of alleged corruption and abuse of power. The protest culminated in the coup.
Mr Thaksin, whose Thai Rak Thai took power in 2001, was returned to government in 2005 by a landslide victory that gave it an unprecedented absolute parliamentary majority.
After the coup, Mr Thaksin, a 58-year-old billionaire, was legally barred from office for five years and charged with a barrage of corruption-related crimes.
The election contest pits the People’s Power Party, stacked by Thaksin supporters and adhering to his populist policies, against the Democrat Party, the country’s oldest.
“The economy was prosperous when Thaksin was prime minister and I voted for the People’s Power Party because the party leader promised to bring Thaksin back to the country,” said Pranee Teamsri, the owner of a tailor shop on Bangkok’s outskirts after emerging from a polling station.
But a number of others in Bangkok, where the Democrat Party is strong, criticised Thaksin’s regime for its corruption, saying the former leader had left Thailand in “a mess”.
The top rivals for prime minister are a study in stark contrasts.
People’s Power Party head Samak Sundaravej, 72, is an acid-tongued, ultra-rightist dubbed a political dinosaur by the local press.
He also faces charges of involvement in corrupt deals while serving as Bangkok’s mayor. But he is seen as Mr Thaksin’s proxy and his earthy style appeals to many.
The 43-year-old Abhisit Vejjajiva, who leads the Democrats, is regarded as an intelligent, honest politician but lacking the common touch needed to connect with the mass electorate.
English-born and educated at Eton and Oxford, critics say he is more comfortable in elite circles than wooing the key rural voters.
Polls show the People’s Power, considered a reincarnation of Mr Thaksin’s outlawed Thai Rak Thai Party, will probably garner the most votes but fall short of an outright majority.
A coalition government of the Democrats and smaller parties is seen as a possible outcome.
About 5,000 candidates from 39 political parties are contending for 480 seats in parliament’s lower house. There are 45 million eligible voters.
Chalerm Yoobamrung, a parliamentary candidate of the People’s Power Party, said at a final campaign rally that Mr Thaksin would come home from his self-imposed exile in London on Valentine’s Day, February 14.
But speaking after casting his vote, Mr Samak said only that some time after the election would be needed before he returned. He added that the former prime minister would have to face the criminal charges against him and stay out of politics.
Ousted by a bloodless military coup 15 months ago, Mr Thaksin faces a series of corruption charges but remains popular among the rural masses and lower income urban residents to whom he offered cheap loans, virtually free medical care and village based development schemes.
Mr Abhisit said yesterday he would allow Mr Thaksin, who is watching the election from Hong Kong, to return “to face charges here so justice will prevail”.
Irrespective of today’s results even the prospect of Mr Thaksin’s return is sure to create further political polarisation and raise fears of another coup by the powerful military.
Last week, the country’s military-installed parliament approved a controversial internal security law that critics warned will allow the military to maintain a grip on power even after the election.
The new law will allow the Internal Security Operations Command, a key security watchdog, to order curfews, restrict freedom of movement and curb the powers of government officials in situations deemed harmful to national security.
Despite the sharp political divisions, national deputy police chief Gen Wichien Photphosri told The Associated Press that no “unwanted incidents” are expected today. Nonetheless, he said some 200,000 police and soldiers will be deployed nationwide to ensure security.
The Election Commission has been barraged by more than 900 complaints of election fraud, mostly related to vote-buying.
