Results show politics still very polarised

ELECTION 2007

Results show politics still very polarised

Smaller parties failed to win many seats

ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT and ANCHALEE KONGRUT

The outcome of the general election has indicated Thailand will have a political system dominated by two major opposing parties, said Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, the rector of the National Institute for Development Administration (Nida).

The outcome of the poll has defeated the purpose of the present constitution, which was designed to support smaller parties working together in coalition governments, he said.

The outcome is also a pointer to the massive rivalry between the two major parties and the polarisation that exists in Thai politics at the moment, he added.

The present constitution and its organic law on the election was written to create more constituencies than in the last charter so that small and medium-sized parties could stand more of a chance of winning seats in those constituencies.

"The outcome of the new election shows people wanted to vote for the two major parties only.

"Voters ignored small- and medium-sized parties," said Mr Sombat.

Surachart Bumrungsuk, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said the more than 200 votes the People Power party won showed that the Sept 19 coup had failed in many ways.

Efforts by the Council for National Security and the government of Gen Surayud Chulanont to undermine and block allies of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra since the coup have been a failure, he said.

Mr Surachart admitted it was difficult to explain the voting patterns in the North and the Northeast.

He said votes in the North and the Northeast had been split between a number of different political parties as the People Power party did not win overwhelming support in the region, home to many of the strongholds of the former Thai Rak Thai party, Mr Surachart said.

Mr Surachart also criticised opinion surveys and exit polls conducted by polling institutions that projected differing results from Sunday's voting.

He said the polls should be carried out in a more careful and more appropriate manner.

Voting for the People Power party to head the government will return the country to the same situation it was in before the Sept 19 coup took place, Mr Surachart said.

Surat Horachaikul, a political scientist, said the reason for the huge support for the People Power party, which he said was clearly a nominee of Thaksin, is because people believed the former Thai Rak Thai leader was better able to identify with them and their problems than the Oxford-educated Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Mr Surat said that despite the apparent aim of giving smaller parties more of a role in parliament, the present constitution had in fact given bigger parties an edge over the smaller ones.

Only major parties have the money and resources to compete under the new election system, with more constituencies than under the last constitution, he said.

Former senator Jon Ungphakorn said many people voted for the PPP based on intuition and personal preferences.

He admitted voters felt attracted to PPP, a reincarnation of Thai Rak Thai, because they want more of the populist policies Thaksin offered in the past.

He said the lower House should ideally consist of small- and medium-sized parties that could maintain the balance of power and prevent one major party from dominating parliament.