Critical time for political party games

General News - Tuesday December 18, 2007

DATELINE Bangkok

Critical time for political party games

Thai Rath analysis _ With six days to go before the Dec 23 general election, tension still looms large over the main protagonists on both sides of the political divide. Time has not healed the wounds caused by the boycott of the April 2006 snap election by the Democrats, Chartthai and Mahachon parties.

The absence of the three parties forced then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party to adopt strategies later ruled by the Constitutional Tribunal as acts of poll fraud. The TRT was dissolved and Mr Thaksin and his 110 executive members were barred from politics for five years.

Thaksin's loyalists are now together under the People Power party (PPP), which until last week was still favoured to win the highest number of seats in Parliament's lower house.

The prospect of Mr Thaksin returning to power certainly does not augur well for the military officers who engineered the Sept 19, 2006 coup against him. If they try to act, it could perpetuate another round of political conflict.

The short period before Dec 23 will be crucial, as the main protagonists will continue to play games that will not be apparent to the general public. With pollsters barred from publicising the outcome of their surveys, the real battle will be fought underground. It could be very intense as both sides cannot afford to lose.

A "third party" might take this opportunity to stir things up. Acts of sabotage might be carried out with the aim of aborting the Dec 23 polls.

The PPP itself is facing investigation over actions that may be deemed in violation of the Election Act. What if the PPP is dissolved and saboteurs are let loose to create disturbance?

Bangkok Post