Despite Protests in Thailand, Vote Will Go On, Panel Says

International New York Times | January 3, 2014 

Photo: Daily Mail

BANGKOK — Thailand’s Election Commission ignored the demands of antigovernment demonstrators on Friday and said elections scheduled for next month would go ahead despite continuing efforts to sabotage them.

The announcement appeared to be a significant victory for the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, which has vast support in northern provinces and is considered almost certain to win the elections. 

Protesters, who say they are fighting to eradicate corruption and banish Ms. Yingluck and her clan from the country, have clashed violently with the police over the past week, leaving two people dead. The protesters, who have at times numbered well over 100,000 people, also say they are planning to “shut down” Bangkok this month by cutting power to government buildings and blocking major intersections. 

And even if the election goes ahead, Parliament may fall short of a constitutional requirement that 95 percent of seats be filled because protesters have blocked registration at 28 districts. 

Before Friday’s announcement, at least one member of the Election Commission seemed sympathetic to the protesters’ demands and was urging a delay in the election. 

But the commission’s secretary general, Phuchong Nutawong, was unequivocal on Friday in saying that the election would take place as scheduled on Feb. 2 because “it is the law.” 

“We will hold elections,” he said. “We can confirm this to you.” 

Although many prominent Thais have remained quiet amid the highly polarized and emotional standoff between the governing party and protesters, tourism industry officials have warned of mass cancellations because of the demonstrations, and some Bangkok residents have been angered at the prospect of traffic chaos. 

Thai financial markets have also been affected by the unrest; stocks on Friday were 15 percent lower than at the start of November, and the baht traded at just under 33 to the dollar, its weakest rate since February 2010. 

In a video released on Thursday, a respected Thai Buddhist monk issued a plea to respect the election process. 

“If we don’t want our country to end up racked with violence, where force is used to obtain victory, we’d better choose elections as the solution,” said the monk, Phra Paisal Visalo.

Phra Paisal said other countries with more substantive divisions, such as South Africa, had successfully used elections during difficult transitions. Thais should think of democracy as “less worse” than the alternatives, he said. 

The protesters, who began their demonstrations two months ago, have been assisted by members of the Democrat Party, the country’s oldest political party, which announced last month that it would boycott the elections. 

The protesters’ rationale for trying to stop the elections is their belief that the family of Ms. Yingluck has done so much damage to the country that her party’s re-election would be “a return to the same corruption,” in the words of the protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban. They suggest the formation of a “people’s council” to replace Parliament. 

Mr. Suthep, a lifelong politician who himself has been embroiled in corruption scandals, on Thursday sought to refine his vision of the “people’s council.” 

The council would comprise representatives of various professions as well as members appointed by senior civil servants, he said. 

To make good on vows to “shut down” Bangkok, Mr. Suthep has promised to block 20 major intersections with his tens of thousands of followers starting on Jan. 13. In a post to his Facebook page on Friday, Mr. Suthep said the goal was to show the administration as a “failed government.” 

“Civil servants will not get to work,” he said. 

The governing party, Pheu Thai, has further stoked the protesters’ anger by choosing Ms. Yingluck as the head of its electoral list, a decision that suggests she will continue as prime minister if the party is victorious. 

The main focus of the protesters’ ire is Ms. Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon and former prime minister ousted in a 2006 coup. Protesters say the dominance of the Shinawatra family is subverting Thai democracy. The second candidate on the party’s electoral list is Somchai Wongsawat, Mr. Thaksin’s brother-in-law. 

Yet the protesters’ anger against the Shinawatra clan is more than matched by the admiration by millions of voters, especially in northeastern Thailand, a historically impoverished part of the country that underwent an economic boom in recent years. 

Many voters credit the northeast’s rising economic fortunes to the governing party and its policies. The party has won every election since 2001, largely because of the support from the north and northeast.