IraGlacialis
12-23-2007, 02:21 PM
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Pro-Thaksin party tops Thai polls
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071223/capt.b71b5e20403041deb1d72f46682b6dd8.thailand_election_tok102.jpg?x=292&y=345&sig=eoYLEe9qmhJNhFa6KjiH7A--
Thailand caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra greets well-wishers after disembarking from the first commercial test flight at Bangkok's new international airport, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, in this July 29, 2006, file photo. Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed, exiled and allegedly corrupt, was poised for a comeback-by-proxy as his loyalists seemed likely to win Thailand's national election Sunday December 23, 2007.(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong, FILE)
BANGKOK, Thailand - Allies of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared victory Sunday in Thailand's first election since the military coup that deposed him.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, the pro-Thaksin People's Power Party had 228 seats in the parliament's 480-seat lower house, the Election Commission announced. The rival Democrat Party, favored by the movement that toppled Thaksin, won 166 seats, it said.
A complete tally was not expected until Monday but the PPP's failure to win an absolute majority means the Democrat Party could attempt to form a coalition government with some of the 38 other parties that ran, despite the pro-Thaksin side's stronger showing.
That raises the possibility of political instability that would deepen the country's two-year political crisis.
Intense negotiating is expected before a government is formed and a new prime minister announced.
"It is clear that compared to other political parties, the PPP has won the highest number of votes," PPP leader Samak Sundaravej said at a news conference. He said Thaksin, who was in Hong Kong, had telephoned after hearing the results.
"Thaksin said congratulations," Samak said, inviting "any political parties" to join the PPP to form a coalition government.
"If the PPP succeeds in forming the government, the Democrat Party is ready to be in the opposition to protect the people's interest. However, if the PPP fails to form a government, the Democrat Party is also ready to form a government," said Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejajjiva.
Samak said he expected Thaksin to return to Thailand after a government is formed, which he said might take about a month. Samak said that if possible, the PPP would grant amnesty to Thaksin and 110 other executives of his now-disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, who were barred from office for five years.
"They didn't do anything wrong," Samak said.
The prospect of Thaksin's return has raised fears of another coup by the powerful military.
Last week, the military-installed parliament approved a controversial internal security law that critics warned will let the military keep a grip on power even after the election, which was billed by the government as a return to democracy after 15 months of military rule.
The vote pitted the PPP — widely seen as a reincarnation of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party — against the Democrat Party, the country's oldest.
The top rivals for next prime minister are a study in stark contrasts.
Samak, 72, is a veteran conservative who has been charged with involvement in corrupt deals while serving as Bangkok's mayor. His earthy style appeals to many, however, and he is seen as Thaksin's proxy.
Critics say Abhisit, 43, British-born and educated at Eton and Oxford, is more comfortable in elite circles than wooing crucial rural voters.
Thaksin's opponents sought to eradicate his political influence by measures such as changing the constitution to limit big political parties' power, and prosecuting the former prime minister on corruption-related charges. And an Election Commission spokesman, Ruangroj Jomsueb, said the commission was investigating more than 100 cases of alleged irregularities, mostly related to vote-buying, which was reportedly rampant in rural areas.
Some victors could lose their seats if found guilty of electoral violations.
Thailand's two years of intense political instability began with large-scale public demonstrations demanding Thaksin resign over allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The protest culminated in a bloodless coup in September 2006.
Thaksin, a 58-year-old billionaire, faces a slew of corruption charges but remains popular among the rural masses and lower income urban residents to whom he offered cheap loans, virtually free medical care and village-based development programs.
He lives in exile in England, where he owns the Manchester City soccer club. The PPP campaigned on a platform of bringing him back and continuing his populist policies.
Voters among the 45 million eligible cast ballots for about 5,000 candidates.
"The economy was prosperous when Thaksin was prime minister and I voted for the People's Power Party because the party leader promised to bring Thaksin back to the country," Pranee Teamsri, who owns a tailor shop on Bangkok's outskirts, said after emerging from a polling station. But others in Bangkok, where the Democrat Party is strong, criticized Thaksin's regime for its corruption and said the former leader had left Thailand in "a mess."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071223/ap_on_re_as/thailand_election
Pro-Thaksin party tops Thai polls
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071223/capt.b71b5e20403041deb1d72f46682b6dd8.thailand_election_tok102.jpg?x=292&y=345&sig=eoYLEe9qmhJNhFa6KjiH7A--
Thailand caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra greets well-wishers after disembarking from the first commercial test flight at Bangkok's new international airport, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, in this July 29, 2006, file photo. Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed, exiled and allegedly corrupt, was poised for a comeback-by-proxy as his loyalists seemed likely to win Thailand's national election Sunday December 23, 2007.(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong, FILE)
BANGKOK, Thailand - Allies of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared victory Sunday in Thailand's first election since the military coup that deposed him.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, the pro-Thaksin People's Power Party had 228 seats in the parliament's 480-seat lower house, the Election Commission announced. The rival Democrat Party, favored by the movement that toppled Thaksin, won 166 seats, it said.
A complete tally was not expected until Monday but the PPP's failure to win an absolute majority means the Democrat Party could attempt to form a coalition government with some of the 38 other parties that ran, despite the pro-Thaksin side's stronger showing.
That raises the possibility of political instability that would deepen the country's two-year political crisis.
Intense negotiating is expected before a government is formed and a new prime minister announced.
"It is clear that compared to other political parties, the PPP has won the highest number of votes," PPP leader Samak Sundaravej said at a news conference. He said Thaksin, who was in Hong Kong, had telephoned after hearing the results.
"Thaksin said congratulations," Samak said, inviting "any political parties" to join the PPP to form a coalition government.
"If the PPP succeeds in forming the government, the Democrat Party is ready to be in the opposition to protect the people's interest. However, if the PPP fails to form a government, the Democrat Party is also ready to form a government," said Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejajjiva.
Samak said he expected Thaksin to return to Thailand after a government is formed, which he said might take about a month. Samak said that if possible, the PPP would grant amnesty to Thaksin and 110 other executives of his now-disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, who were barred from office for five years.
"They didn't do anything wrong," Samak said.
The prospect of Thaksin's return has raised fears of another coup by the powerful military.
Last week, the military-installed parliament approved a controversial internal security law that critics warned will let the military keep a grip on power even after the election, which was billed by the government as a return to democracy after 15 months of military rule.
The vote pitted the PPP — widely seen as a reincarnation of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party — against the Democrat Party, the country's oldest.
The top rivals for next prime minister are a study in stark contrasts.
Samak, 72, is a veteran conservative who has been charged with involvement in corrupt deals while serving as Bangkok's mayor. His earthy style appeals to many, however, and he is seen as Thaksin's proxy.
Critics say Abhisit, 43, British-born and educated at Eton and Oxford, is more comfortable in elite circles than wooing crucial rural voters.
Thaksin's opponents sought to eradicate his political influence by measures such as changing the constitution to limit big political parties' power, and prosecuting the former prime minister on corruption-related charges. And an Election Commission spokesman, Ruangroj Jomsueb, said the commission was investigating more than 100 cases of alleged irregularities, mostly related to vote-buying, which was reportedly rampant in rural areas.
Some victors could lose their seats if found guilty of electoral violations.
Thailand's two years of intense political instability began with large-scale public demonstrations demanding Thaksin resign over allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The protest culminated in a bloodless coup in September 2006.
Thaksin, a 58-year-old billionaire, faces a slew of corruption charges but remains popular among the rural masses and lower income urban residents to whom he offered cheap loans, virtually free medical care and village-based development programs.
He lives in exile in England, where he owns the Manchester City soccer club. The PPP campaigned on a platform of bringing him back and continuing his populist policies.
Voters among the 45 million eligible cast ballots for about 5,000 candidates.
"The economy was prosperous when Thaksin was prime minister and I voted for the People's Power Party because the party leader promised to bring Thaksin back to the country," Pranee Teamsri, who owns a tailor shop on Bangkok's outskirts, said after emerging from a polling station. But others in Bangkok, where the Democrat Party is strong, criticized Thaksin's regime for its corruption and said the former leader had left Thailand in "a mess."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071223/ap_on_re_as/thailand_election