Anfrel urges Thai military to stay neutral

General News - Tuesday December 11, 2007

Anfrel urges Thai military to stay neutral

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Asian poll watchers yesterday urged the Thai military to stay neutral and immediately lift martial law in the remaining areas of the country before the general election takes place.

Coordinator of the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) Ichal Supriadi said neutrality by the armed forces will make the polls credible and the end of martial law was necessary to allow all political parties to campaign freely.

''We think the general election is a very crucial turning point for the country because it is going back to a democratic system,'' said Mr Supriadi.

Martial law, imposed by the coup makers immediately after the Sept 19 coup last year, remains in place in several parts of the country for security reasons, despite pressure from right activists to see it eliminated.

Anfrel will dispatch 37 international observers from 15 countries to closely monitor the advance polls this weekend and the election on Dec 23 in all eight electoral zones of the country.

Anfrel director Somsri Hananuntasuk expressed his concern about the election over vote-buying, fraud and violence, which has been seen most obviously in the northern, northeastern and southernmost provinces.

''The provinces that might have severe political conflicts are Buri Ram, Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani, some provinces in the North and the three provinces in the deep South,'' she said.

The international poll body will work closely with the People's Network for Elections in Thailand (P-Net) to evaluate the election, before sending their reports to the Election Commission.

P-Net, an independent election monitoring agency in Thailand, will not join the mission due to a financial conflict with the EC.

Mustawacad, an Indonesian observer, who will be part of a team that will observe the polling in Narathiwat from today until Dec 24, hoped for a fair election in the area which is plagued by daily violence.

''What I want to see is whether the general election will be fair to those areas that have been affected by violence. In many places as I came to observe them, I saw the voters being accompanied by the military because of security concerns. However, we have to take a closer look at this issue, because this might be considered as an act of bias,'' he said.

By : Bangkok Post