Thailand legislative election, April 2006
Encyclopedia
Opposition boycott
On 25 February the Post reported Democrat party leader Abhisit VejjajivaAbhisit Vejjajiva
Abhisit Vejjajiva , , ; born Mark Abhisit Vejjajiva; 3 August 1964 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a Thai politician who was the 27th Prime Minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011 and is the current leader of the Democrat Party...
as saying he was "ready to become a prime minister who adheres to the principles of good governance and ethics, not authoritarianism." The next day, however, it was announced that the Democratic Party, along with other opposition parties, were considering boycotting the elections. At a press conference Abhisit joined the Thai Nation Party's Banharn Silpa-archa
Banharn Silpa-Archa
Banharn Silpa-archa was the 21st Prime Minister of Thailand, from 13 July 1995 to 24 November 1996. He has been a veteran Sino-Thai Member of Parliament since 1976 as the elected representative of Suphanburi province...
and the Mahachon Party
Mahachon Party
The Mahachon Party is a political party in Thailand.It was founded in 1998 under the name of Phak Ratsadon or Citizen's Party. In its first years, it was dominated by a circle of former Thai Nation Party members around Air Marshal Somboon Rahong...
's Sanan Kachornprasart
Sanan Kachornprasart
Sanan Kachornprasart is a Thai politician and military officer . He was deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Abhisit Vejjajiva, and is Chief Adviser of the Chartthaipattana Party.-Military service:...
and said that the three parties would consult with party members before making a final decision.
Abhisit said that the elections "lacked legitimacy' and were an attempt by Thaksin to "divert public attention." from the Shin Corp scandal. "Boycotting the poll is one option but the parties still have to explore other possibilities allowed by the constitution," he said. Thaksin's behaviour was "exposing the country to a new political system, the Thaksin system, which bent the constitution,". Abhisit said. "The charter was once the people's charter. Now it has been hijacked."
Banharn said the sudden dissolution left opposition political parties "no time to prepare a list of constituency candidates and list candidates." Only Thai Rak Thai was well-equipped with wealth, people and power," he said.
On 27 February, the three opposition parties announced a boycott of the election after Thaksin reportedly refused to sign a pledge to implement constitutional reforms. The Bangkok Post reported Abhisit as saying that "under the current circumstances" a fair general election was unlikely. What was likely, he said, "was an election that would yield the outcome Mr Thaksin was expecting."
"The prime minister does not respond to the intention of the three political parties," Abhisit said. "He is diverting from the heart of the solution and creating the process that sees only uncertainties and complications. That does not assure us that there will be serious political reform."
Deputy Thai Rak Thai leader Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan
Sudarat Keyuraphan
Sudarat Keyuraphan is a Thai politician and the deputy leader of the Thai Rak Thai party. She served as the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand in the Thai Rak Thai government until its ousting in the September 2006 coup.Born in Bangkok, Sudarat is a graduate of Chulalongkorn...
said that the government was doing its best to find a way out of the political crisis. "Dissolving the House to return power to the people is the best way out under this constitution and democracy," she said. "But you do not accept it. What better choice could Thai Rak Thai make?"
The decision by the Democratic Party and the Thai Nation Party to boycott the elections meant that almost the whole of southern Thailand lost its previous political representation, since at the 2005 election, Thaksin's party won only one seat in the south.
Results
Unofficial results published by Bangkok newspapers showed that TRT polled over 61% of all valid votes (about 53% of all votes cast), and won about 460 of the 500 seats. Voters in the Central, Northern and North-Eastern regions voted overwhelmingly for TRT candidates, who were unopposed in the great majority of seats in these regions. But the majority of voters in Bangkok and in the Southern region rejected the government. In many constituencies in these areas voters used the "abstain" option on their ballot papers to reject TRT candidates, even when they were running unopposed. TRT received fewer votes than the number of abstention votes in 28 of 36 Bangkok constituencies. In 2005, TRT won 30 of the Bangkok seats.Disputing the election result
.png)
.png)
People's Alliance for Democracy
The People's Alliance for Democracy also called the National Liberation Alliance - กลุ่มพันธมิตรกู้ชาติ, Thai Patriots Network or the Yellow Shirts - เสื้อเหลือง - was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand. Its leaders include...
(PAD) petitioned the Administrative Court to suspend the results of the election and accused the Election Commission
Election Commission (Thailand)
The Election Commission of the Kingdom of Thailand is an independent government agency and the sole Electoral Commission of Thailand tasked with overseeing Senate, House, local and district elections throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. Established by the Constitution, the Election Commission has...
of violating voter privacy. The EC repositioned voting booths so that voters' backs were to the public, whereas in previous elections, voters faced the public, with a board one-half meter tall at the front of the booth separating the voter from the public. The EC claimed the new arrangement was designed to prevent various forms of poll fraud including the use of cameras by voters to take photographs of their ballots. After the 2005 election, cameras and cameraphones had been banned from voting stations due to fears that canvassers would demand ballot photographs in return for money. However, the PAD claimed that this allowed onlookers to peek over voters' shoulders and see who they voted for.
After unofficial voting results became public, the PAD declared that it would ignore the results of the election. He further said that the "PAD will go on rallying until Thaksin resigns and Thailand gets a royally-appointed prime minister".
The elections were finally declared invalid by Thailand's Constitutional Court
Constitutional Court of Thailand
The Constitutional Court of Thailand is an independent Thai court originally established under the 1997 Constitution with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal decrees, draft legislation, as well as the appointment and removal of public officials and issues regarding...
, which found that the positioning of the voting booths violated voter privacy. The Constitutional Court later pressured the Election Commission
Election Commission (Thailand)
The Election Commission of the Kingdom of Thailand is an independent government agency and the sole Electoral Commission of Thailand tasked with overseeing Senate, House, local and district elections throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. Established by the Constitution, the Election Commission has...
to resign for its management of the April elections. The Court was unsuccessful in pressuring the EC head to resign; however, it did prevent the Senate from appointing a replacement for commissioner Jaral Buranapansri who had died. This prevented the EC from having a quorum. It later found the remaining Commissioners guilty of malfeasance and jailed them.
On 30 May 2006, the Cabinet decided to hold new elections on 15 October 2006.