Heavy polls turnout appears likely

BREAKING NEWS - Sunday December 23, 2007

Heavy polls turnout appears likely

Officials in Thailand are anticipating a strong turnout in today's parliamentary election.

Forty-five million voters are eligible to participate in the poll, which has been keenly contested by 18 parties.

Voters will elect 480 members of the lower house in a new system devised for the new constitution by the military junta, which combines voting for 400 parliamentary seats to be held by individuals and 80 more selected from party lists.

A record 2.9 million people took part in advance voting last week.

The poll is meant to restore democracy after last year's military coup.

The race boils down to the battle between the Democrat Party, which represents city dwellers and voters in Thailand's south, and the People Power Party (PPP), which has a hold on rural areas because of its strong ties to exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The PPP has been leading the opinion polls despite a 15-month long campaign by the military junta to discredit Mr Thaksin.

An estimated 200,000 police and soldiers have been sent to provide security at polling booths across the country amid fears of unrest.

There are concerns about unrest if the military interferes with the outcome.

04:56 Dec 23, 2007

Bangkok Post