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Thailand's first post-coup vote
23/12/2007 10:23 - (SA)
Bangkok - Thais went to the polls on Sunday in an election meant to restore democracy more than a year after the military ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose shadow looms large over the balloting.
About 45.7 million Thais are eligible to vote in the first post-coup election, in which opinion polls predict neither of the kingdom's two leading parties will win a clear majority of the 480 seats in parliament.
Voting stations opened at 08:00 (01:00 GMT) and were due to close at 15:00 (08:00 GMT). The Election Commission said voter turnout would likely reach 70%, with unofficial results expected by midnight on Sunday.
Electoral authorities have already received more than 900 complaints about alleged election frauds, mainly vote buying, which has a long history in Thailand.
The election is also being held with more than one third of the country, including Thaksin's rural strongholds, still under martial law.
But army-backed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont insisted the polls would be fair. "The election is being held transparently and is fair to everyone," Surayud said after casting his ballot in Bangkok.
Voters began lining up shortly before polling stations opened in the Thai capital, many of them wearing yellow or pink shirts in honour of the nation's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
"I'm glad we're having this election today, so we can hold our heads high to show the rest of the world that we are a democratic country," said Somjit Hongthong, a 53-year-old housewife, as she lined up to vote in Bangkok.
Still in people's hearts and minds
Frontrunners in the race are the People Power Party (PPP), which was taken over by allies of Thaksin's disbanded Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, and the Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest political outfit.
Since the coup, Thaksin, 58, has been living in exile in Britain, where he has bought the Manchester City football club.
PPP has campaigned on promises to bring back Thaksin's economic policies and to allow the exiled leader to return to Thailand.
"Those who staged the coup 15 months ago did nothing good for the people, not like the good things Thaksin did during his five years" in office, PPP leader Samak Sundaravej told reporters after casting his ballot in Bangkok.
"That's why Thaksin is still in people's hearts and minds," he said.
Although the junta dissolved Thaksin's party and banned him from politics after the bloodless coup in September 2006, the former premier remains a dominant and divisive figure in Thai politics.
Few analysts believe the election will resolve deep divisions between anti-Thaksin urban dwellers and the rural masses, who remain loyal to the deposed leader.
PPP draws most of its support from farmers, the majority of Thailand's 64 million population, who remember efforts by the self-made billionaire Thaksin to boost the rural economy during his five-year rule.
The Democrat Party is popular among Bangkok's middle-class, who spearheaded anti-Thaksin protests that culminated in the coup.
"The poll this Sunday is a continuation of our ongoing political crisis," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"This election shows the struggle between pro-Thaksin and anti-Thaksin forces," he said.
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