Military doing its best to make sure PPP does not achieve its election goals

Today's General News - Wednesday December 12, 2007

POLL PULSE

CANVASSERS LOSE BITE

Military doing its best to make sure PPP does not achieve its election goals

Story By SURASAK TUMCHAROEN

Those openly supportive of candidates contesting MP seats under the ticket of the People Power party (PPP) should beware of the military, which is closely monitoring the goings-on and will do whatever it takes to make sure things end up as it has planned, meaning that the PPP's goals should not be achieved.

Both the contestants and the electorate are under the watchful oversight of the military through the eyes of Deputy Prime Minister Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who is heading the national anti-vote buying campaign.

So PPP candidates have come up with another strategy than just remaining dependent on their canvassers for election victory on Dec 23.

Since early this year, potential canvassers and active supporters of the PPP, including chiefs of tambon administrative organisations and provincial councillors, kamnan and village heads, among others, have cringed in fear after military officers, mostly in plainclothes, began guiding people in what they believe is the right direction in the northeastern region.

Army officers quietly approached the local leaders, introduced themselves, began perfunctory chitchat and bluntly suggested they see to it the Dec 23 poll will be held without any vote buying.

Given such unsolicited advice, most of those who had worked for the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party candidates in previous elections have distanced themselves from the canvassing job. The ones that have dared to continue, are keeping their fingers crossed that they will not be caught by the Election Commission or, even worse, the military.

Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda has reinforced the message by saying that candidates should be put under close watch by the military so that they would refrain from any type of wrongdoing, such as vote buying and other kinds of electoral fraud.

His comments followed on the heels of a leak of a confidential CNS directive seeking cooperation from the military and government personnel to stop deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's men from returning to power for "national security reasons" after the election.

Many of the PPP candidates, mostly ex-TRT MPs, especially those seeking re-election in the Northeast, have now turned to "mass networking" which calls for direct contacts between the candidates and their constituents. This removes the need for canvassers.

"We are now sure we can do without canvassers.

"We asked ourselves what we could possibly do if we didn't have them to intensify our campaign?" said one veteran MP seeking re-election under the PPP banner in an Isan constituency.

"Then, we came up with the idea of mass networking of villagers in all the tambons of our respective constituencies. We're practically ridding ourselves of dependency on those local leaders for good. Whether or not all of our efforts will bear fruit remains to be seen come Dec 23."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the PPP candidate said the canvassers were not willing to help him and his colleagues overtly for fear of landing themselves in trouble.

Given a reintroduced electoral process under which all votes cast at each polling unit will be counted on the spot instead of being brought over to the provincial hall for mixed counts as in the 2001 and 2005 elections, it won't be very difficult to see if any canvassers may have worked for any particular candidates.

Homes or offices of the candidates today look quiet and lacklustre. Only a few of their campaign staff hang around there. Gone are the days when canvassers gathered at the candidates' homes and waited for their orders every morning.

For fear of being charged of breaching the electoral laws, which might lead to the handing out of a yellow or red card to the candidates, those local leaders have been told not to show up where they used to gather.

In one Khon Kaen constituency, PPP candidates Jatuphorn Charoenchua and Panya Sripanya are contesting against an arch-rival in Puea Pandin party leader Suvit Khunkitti, who has made it clear he is also gunning for the premiership.

According to one district councillor in Nam Phong district who is canvassing for Mr Suvit and his running mate, ex-MP Mukda Phongsombat, the Puea Pandin leader and his colleagues are very fearful of being handed a yellow or red card by the EC.

Nevertheless, the Puea Pandin canvasser has been telling villagers the ex-deputy premier might join the PPP to form a coalition government following the general election.

Veteran Isan MPs who have defected from the PPP to Puea Pandin, and are among the 111 ex-TRT executives currently suspended from political activities, are saying the same thing.

Mr Jatuphorn too is no longer relying on his former canvassers to win over voters and has turned to the mass networking strategy under which his constituents have been asked to lend their help by simply casting their votes for him and his running mates, no matter what their local leaders may say or do.

Even if the local leaders turn their backs on the PPP, Mr Jatuphorn believes his mass networking system would somehow manage to convince his constituents to stay on his side.

The PPP is urging the people to vote for the party if they want to see the next government continue with the Thaksin administration's populist policies, and see Mr Thaksin's return from self-imposed exile overseas.

PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang is also seeking re-election in one of the Si Sa Ket constituencies, but this time his ex-canvassers are not there to help.

More upsetting is the fact that his constituency has become much bigger than in the last two elections and under the current electoral process a maximum of three MPs can be chosen from a single constituency.

Mr Kuthep admits he only has the means to concentrate on a door-to-door campaign covering just a small area of the constituency, which may prove ineffective. The PPP candidate is hoping that the mass networking strategy would pay off.

In another constituency of Si Sa Ket, PPP candidate Thanet Khruarat is contesting against his own brother, ex-senator Narongsit Khruarat who is running under the Puea Pandin ticket.

Mr Narongsit says the PPP candidates should not complain about the polling agency or the military's strict inspection of electioneering activities because, he charges, the Thaksin administration had used all state mechanisms to bring about landslide victories for its TRT candidates in the previous elections.

In Buri Ram, veteran MPs loyal to ex-minister Newin Chidchob do not appear surprised to see most of their former canvassers in such a helpless state. They have been warned by the military to stay "neutral".

PPP candidate Pakit Pholdet, who is vying against ex-deputy House speaker Sophon Phetsawang of Puea Pandin, says he hopes the people will pick him not because of his personal connections with Mr Newin, but because of the PPP's populist platform.

Buri Ram is viewed by the CNS as a "hot spot" where the pro-Thaksin movement might otherwise be resurrected by those loyal to the ex-TRT deputy leader.

Bangkok Post