Voters to decide who runs the country

General News - Sunday December 23, 2007

RACE TO PARLIAMENT

Voters to decide who runs the country

Unofficial results to be known by midnight, says Election Commission, and websites and phone line will keep the public up to date

By Post reporters

After two months of solid campaigns from North to South and East to West and promises by political parties, today it is the turn of voters to decide who should run the country.

The first election after the military coup on Sept 19 last year to restore democracy to the kingdom is a contest between 31 parties. But analysts have reached a consensus that the next government will be the end of the one-party administration like the country had in the 2005 poll, which saw then incumbent prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party enjoy a landslide victory.

After the last ballots are cast at 3pm today, the Election Commission (EC) is confident it will have unofficial results by midnight. They will be posted on its website, www.ect.go.th, and the police website, www.election.police.go.th, while people can phone 1171 to discover the outcome, said EC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will deploy mobile trucks equipped with big TV screens at district offices to give updated results to political watchers eager to see who will win the contest.

Mr Thaksin, however, has to watch from Hong Kong as he is in self-imposed exile as a result of the coup engineered by then army chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, now a deputy prime minister, on charges of abusing his administrative authority and alleged corruption while in power.

Gen Sonthi yesterday reminded voters of the importance of choosing clean candidates for the new parliament.

''People are the employers,'' he said, referring to candidates in the polls. ''Tomorrow [Sunday] we will select our employees to work for us. Please elect only good ones.''

He offered some tips for voters before making their decisions on the ballot sheets.

''Just look at their track records, whether they did any damage [to the country], and whether they were loyal [to His Majesty the King] and loved the country,'' he told reporters.

Unlike previous elections, this time the ballot sheets will be counted at voting stations instead of being moved to be counted at central locations.

EC commissioner Praphan Naikowit sent a message to election officials, asking them to be neutral, to be strict with the rules and to watch out for any irregularities which could change the results.

''Polling stations can make or break the election because they are places where the ballots will be counted,'' he said.

He warned officials that they would face criminal charges if they accepted bribes to change the counting or tried to influence voters.

All 88,500 polling stations will be manned by at least two police officers as well as election officials to prevent irregularities and ensure safety, according to police spokesman Pol Lt-Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen. Bomb disposal squads and mobile units will be on stand-by for emergencies, he added.

Election and government officials will continue their campaigns to encourage voters to use their rights throughout the day.

All key players in the country, including the EC, the Council for National Security, the armed forces and the government want more people to vote to offset organised votes by political parties.

Bangkok Post