Thailand: Court could declare February election void | The Malay Mail

Thailand’s Constitutional Court was due to rule today on the validity of a general election held in February that was disrupted by protesters, with speculation growing it could void the vote, adding to the political turmoil in the country. The protests are the latest chapter in an eight-year crisis that pits Bangkok’s middle class and royalist establishment against supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by the army in 2006 and lives in exile to avoid a jail term for graft. Now in their fifth month, the protesters have shut government offices and at times blocked major thoroughfares in Bangkok to try to force Yingluck out. Twenty-three people have died and hundreds have been injured in the violence. The court complaint was brought by a law lecturer who argues among other things that the Feb. 2 election was unconstitutional because voting did not take place in all areas on the same day.

Thailand: Election Commission approves poll re-runs in 11 provinces | Bangkok Post

The Election Commission (EC) has approved a proposal involving poll re-runs in 11 provinces where balloting for Jan 26 advance voting and the Feb 2 election was disrupted by protest blockades, its secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong says. Mr Puchong said the poll re-runs are scheduled for April 5 in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Bangkok and on April 27 for Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Phuket, Satun and Phangnga. He said the proposal is the result of last Friday’s meeting between the EC and parties concerned in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district. The EC has resolved that it will wait for a Constitution Court ruling before making any decision concerning 28 constituencies where there were no candidates to contest the Feb 2 election, he said.

Thailand: Voting in re-run elections peaceful as protesters regroup in central Bangkok | Australia Network News

Thailand has held elections in five provinces where voting was disrupted in last month’s poll by anti-government protesters trying to unseat Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. There were no reports of violence at Sunday’s vote, although gunfire and at least two explosions have raised tension in Bangkok before the Feb 2 polls. Election re-runs planned for April in other provinces have been suspended pending a court decision on procedures. Voting was disrupted in 18 per cent of constituencies, 69 out of 375 nationwide, the Election Commission said, affecting 18 of 77 provinces. The demonstrators, who have blocked intersections in the capital for weeks, say Prime Minister Yingluck must resign and make way for an appointed “people’s council” to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thailand: Polls close in general poll | BBC

Voting has ended in five provinces in Thailand that were unable to hold polls in last month’s general election because of anti-government protests. No disturbances were reported in Sunday’s ballot, but correspondents say voter turnout was only around 10%. Polls also stayed closed in many areas affected by February’s rallies, with the election commission saying the situation there remained too tense. Thailand has been in a political crisis since mass rallies began in November. Protesters are calling for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign, and want her government to be replaced by an unelected “people’s council” to reform the political system.

Thailand: Election Commission asks court who has poll authority | Bangkok Post

The Election Commission (EC) is poised to petition the Constitution Court to rule whether the EC or the government can authorise the announcement of polls in 28 constituencies in the South. Anti-government protests barred candidates from registering to contest the Feb 2 election in 28 constituencies in the southern provinces and an election rerun has to be called in these areas to complete the contest. The EC wants the government to issue a new royal decree for the election rerun to go ahead but the government argues such a step would violate the constitution. EC member Somchai Srisuttiyakorn said yesterday the agency will ask the charter court to rule on who would be able to authorise the rerun as the government has made it clear that it would not re-issue a royal decree for the purpose. He said the petition can be lodged without a formal reply from the government.

Thailand: Election body frees some state funds to pay rice farmers | The Star

Thailand’s Election Commission gave the government approval on Tuesday to use a small sum from the central budget, 712 million baht ($22 million), to pay rice farmers who have been waiting months for payment from a state buying programme. The money will go a little way towards appeasing farmers protesting in Bangkok and their home provinces, but it is only a fraction of the 130 billion baht the government is estimated to owe nearly a million growers. “The Election Commission has approved a 712 million baht fund to help farmers, as requested by the government,” Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, an election official, said in a message posted on his Facebook page. The government is now looking for additional funds.

Thailand: Election Commission rejects ‘impossible’ re-run demand | Bangkok Post

Pheu Thai, Chartthaipattana, Chart Pattana and Phalang Chon parties stepped up calls on Friday for the EC to wrap up the incomplete election process, warning that the country faces the threat of huge economic damage in the absence of a government. But election commissioner Somchai Srisuttiyakon yesterday dismissed the request, saying the EC was required to act within the law. He was speaking at a meeting of chairmen and directors of provincial election committees to discuss preparations for the Senate election on March 30 and the poll re-runs. Mr Somchai, who is in charge of election management, said it was impossible to hold a fresh election in the 28 southern constituencies which had no registered candidates as the caretaker government and the EC still could not reach a clear conclusion on how to proceed.

Thailand: Caretaker Government Beseiged | Establishment Post

The caretaker government of Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra continues to maintain its fragile grip on power two weeks after a general election failed to yield sufficient parliamentarians to enable the formation of a new government in Southeast Asia’s second largest economy. The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (NSPRT) and the Dhamma Army continue to protest daily in the streets of the capital, Bangkok.

Thailand: Prime Minister’s speech on rice scheme breach of election law, petitioners tell EC | Bangkok Post

Representatives of two organisations on Thursday filed separate petitions with the Election Commission accusing caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of violating the constitution and election law by making a television address on the government’s rice-pledging scheme on Feb 18. The first petition was filed by Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Constitution Protection Association. The petition stated that Ms Yingluck’s speech broadcast by Television Pool of Thailand on Feb 18 was intended to promote the government and Pheu Thai Party rice-pledging programme. Since Ms Yingluck is the caretaker prime minister, her television address had violated Section 181 of the constitution because she, as a state official, is required to be neutral, it said.

Thailand: A country without a government | Deutsche Welle

Since the February 2 elections, Thailand’s interim premier has lacked the authority to rule the Southeast Asian country. Four people have recently died in riots. The government is running out of options. Government buildings in Thailand’s capital Bangkok lie abandoned. For months, they have been besieged by opposition protestors who have forced the government to deal with the day-to-day operations at other facilities. Although the government of interim Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has exercised utmost restraint so far, it changed its strategy last Friday, February 14, when it ordered riot police to move against opposition barricades and demonstrators in an attempt to clear the roads leading to ministries and other administrative buildings.

Thailand: Poll talks amid fresh anti-government protests | BBC

Thai government officials are meeting the election commission to discuss how to complete the country’s elections. The 2 February general election was disrupted by protesters in some places, so by-elections need to take place before a government can be formed. The talks come as anti-government protesters rebuilt barricades outside official buildings in Bangkok, vowing to topple the government. Thailand has been in a political crisis since mass protests began in November. Police had cleared some protest sites in Bangkok on Friday, dismantling barricades near some government buildings with little resistance.

Thailand: Post-election crisis could prolong political uncertainty in Thailand | Global Times

The post-election crisis in Thailand could spawn a political uncertainty that could last for weeks, if not months, with everyone guessing when a new government could come into being. Under normal circumstances, a prime minister can be named and a government formed within weeks after a nationwide parliamentary election. But given the polarization in the country’s political spectrum with Yingluck Shinawatra’s caretaker government on one side and the anti-government protesters on the other side, it is almost predictable that the political impasse could stretch to a much longer time, according to political analysts here. Both sides are not willing to compromise on their respective positions and a protracted legal battle looms, a situation that has baffled, it not exasperated, the cross-section of the Thai society.

Thailand: Court rejects Thailand opposition demand to annul election | Malaysia Sun

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has declined to consider a petition by the opposition to annul the February 2 vote citing insufficient grounds. Wiratana Kalayasiri, opposition Democrat Party lawyer, had argued that the poll violated the constitution for several reasons, including that it was not completed in one day. The government blamed the delay on the opposition blocking polling stations. Thailand has been in a political crisis since mass anti-government protests kicked off in November. They were sparked by a controversial amnesty bill which critics said would allow former leader Thaksin Shinawatra to return to Thailand without serving time in jail for his corruption conviction. The opposition’s legal challenge was based on the failure to hold the entire election on the same day. “This case is over,” said Kalayasiri. “But if the government does anything wrong again, we will make another complaint.”

Thailand: Amid political turmoil, Thailand’s election body takes centre stage | The Star

As Thailand tries to resolve a debilitating political stalemate, five unelected officials have been armed with the power to over-rule its government in key areas and chart a route out of the mess left by this month’s disrupted election. For three-and-a-half months, protesters, mostly from Bangkok and the south, have been seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and rid the country of the influence of her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. At the general election on February 2, the protesters disrupted polling or blocked candidates from registering in almost 70 of the 375 voting constituencies, leaving the new House of Representatives without the required quorum of members. That means Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party government will continue on a caretaker basis, despite almost certainly winning a majority, until elections are held to fill the remaining seats.

Thailand: Court Rejects Opposition Bid to Throw Out Elections | Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government won a key victory Wednesday in the uphill struggle to form a new administration when the Constitutional Court rejected a bid by the opposition to annul the Feb. 2 election. The ruling clears the way to hold new polls in districts that were unable to vote because of disruption by opposition boycotts and protests. The independent Election Commission has set makeup voting to be held on April 20 and April 27 in those districts. However, the commission has yet to seek a way to hold voting for 28 electoral districts that haven’t even been able to even register candidates because of opposition protests—the scenario that has left the country short of the 95% threshold of the total 500 seats required to seat a new Parliament. The opposition Democrat Party’s application to the court had maintained, among other things, that the election poll wasn’t constitutional because voting wasn’t conducted nationwide on the same day. The chief of the Democrat Party’s legal team, Wiratana Kalayasri, said that he “respects the court’s opinion” but said that he would petition the court again “should the government make any more mistakes.”

Thailand: Voting Set for Areas Previously Blocked | Wall Street Journal

Thailand’s Election Commission said it would hold elections in April in areas where voting was disrupted by antigovernment protesters, likely delaying a new government from being formed until at least May to tackle high-stakes matters. The makeup voting will be on April 20 and April 27 in parts of the capital and more than a dozen provinces after protester blockades there prompted election officials to call off the Feb. 2 polls, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, an election commissioner, said at a news conference on Tuesday. Thailand’s economic growth in 2014 will be affected by how long the protests go on and how long it takes to form a new government, a senior economist at the World Bank’s Bangkok office said Tuesday. The Bank of Thailand expects the country’s economy to expand 3%, down from the 4% target the bank had forecast in November.

Thailand: Vote official says new general election may be needed | Reuters

A member of Thailand’s Election Commission said it may prove impossible to complete this month’s disrupted election and the whole vote may need to be re-run, implying many months more under a caretaker government with limited powers. Action by anti-government protesters meant voting was scrapped or halted in about a fifth of constituencies, so there will not be enough lawmakers elected to convene parliament to vote in a prime minister.

Thailand: No grand bargain amid Thailand political crisis | BBC

The 2 February general election passed without serious violence; most of the valid votes cast were almost certainly for the governing Pheu Thai party. That was the good news for the government. The bad news was that the election was sufficiently disrupted to end with a lower-than-usual turnout, and millions of voters blocked from voting by the anti-government PDRC movement. These elections will have to be run again to fill the minimum of 95% of seats in parliament required by the constitution before a new government can be formed. That includes polling stations where advanced voting was obstructed on 26 January, and the 28 constituencies where protesters blocked any candidates from registering. The re-runs could take many weeks, and will surely be obstructed again. It is a finishing line Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s party is battling to cross, with her opponents determined to stop her; a war of attrition being waged on several fronts.

Thailand: Election Commission consults experts over second poll | Bangkok Post

The Election Commission will invite legal experts and key representatives of the government to discuss how to improve the turnout for the rescheduled polls, EC member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn says. He was responding to caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanchana’s comment that the EC should put more effort into managing the new round of elections. Ninety-five percent of the total 500 MP seats must be filled so the House of Representatives can be convened and a new prime minister selected, as required by the constitution. “I will invite Mr Pongthep and legal experts, and ask for their advice on how to set up the next round of elections. I can say that we might not have the full number of representatives in the next two months or even 180 days [as stipulated by the charter],” he said. Mr Somchai said the EC will today decide whether the new round of polls could be held on Feb 23 as planned.

Thailand: Opposition Seeks to Nullify Weekend Elections | Wall Street Journal

Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday confronted a legal challenge to nullify weekend elections, while a scrapped rice deal dealt a blow to her effort to maintain support from farmers. The opposition Democrat Party’s legal team filed a petition to ask Thailand’s Constitutional Court to nullify Sunday’s election, arguing the poll violated the country’s constitution because it wasn’t completed in one day, and the partial results could influence decisions of voters who would vote late. General elections on Sunday were disrupted in 11% of the electoral districts—mostly in Bangkok and southern Thailand—by street protesters who vowed to remove Ms. Yingluck from office and suspend the election that her party was expected to win. The Election Commission said it would withhold results until all electoral districts that were prevented from voting on Sunday have done so. The chief of the opposition’s legal team, Wiratana Kalayasiri, said the ruling Pheu Thai Party and some ministers have already disclosed publicly how many parliament seats they are likely to get, and that could influence voters. Mr. Wiratana, whose party boycotted the poll, also asked the court to dissolve Ms. Yingluck’s Pheu Thai and ban its executives from politics.

Thailand: After The Thai Elections: Protests And Uncertainty Linger | Forbes

Despite the efforts of the anti-government, anti-election protesters calling themselves the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), at least in English, parliamentary elections did proceed in Thailand this past Sunday. Not always smoothly, voting was carried out in almost 90% of voting districts. The bad news is that 516 polling stations did not open, usually because protesters blocked the delivery of ballots. And last month, some Southern candidates were prevented from even registering to run. As a result, there will soon be formal legal challenges  regarding the election’s validity A February 23 election  is already scheduled for the 440,000 voters that were blocked by protesters from early voting January 26. Meanwhile,  government paralysis and motley protests continue and unpaid rice farmers are creating their own protest movement.

Thailand: Limbo looms for Thailand after protest-hit polls | AFP

Thailand’s protest-plagued elections herald a political stalemate that risks unleashing deepening turmoil and potential judicial intervention in the polarised kingdom, experts say. Voting went ahead largely peacefully despite fears of fresh violence following pre-poll bloodshed sparked by opposition rallies aimed at preventing the re-election of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. But millions were denied the opportunity to cast ballots, with protest blockades causing the closure of some 10 percent of polling stations in an election boycotted by the main opposition party. Facing possible vote reruns in nearly a fifth of constituencies, election officials have dampened expectations of a quick result. That has raised the spectre of weeks of uncertainty in a country where military coups and court interventions have a history of reshaping the political landscape.

Thailand: Turnout in Thai election less than 50%: election commission sources | GlobalPost

Less than 50 percent of Thailand’s 45 million eligible voters turned out to vote in Sunday’s controversial general election, Election Commission sources said Monday. The low turnout was partly blamed on antigovernment protesters who urged people not cast their ballots, blocked distribution of ballot boxes and papers, and occupied district offices, preventing many polling stations from opening. Another likely reason was that the election was boycotted by the main opposition Democrat Party. Nine of 77 provinces across the country, especially the south, decided to cancel the voting due to the lack of ballot boxes and papers, depriving millions of their right to vote in the election. In total, voting in 69 of 375 constituencies around the country could not take place due to interference by protesters, according to the Election Commission.

Thailand: Protesters Disrupt Thai Voting, Forcing Additional Elections | New York Times

Protesters seeking to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra disrupted Thailand’s general election on Sunday in what appeared to be a prelude to more political upheaval. The opposition forces, who represent a minority of Thais and are seeking to replace the country’s elected government with an appointed council of technocrats, said they would challenge the election results in court while continuing to hold street demonstrations in Bangkok, the capital. Protesters stopped the distribution of ballot boxes on Sunday and pressed election officials to call off voting in a number of districts in Bangkok and in most of southern Thailand, the stronghold of the protest movement. Although no violence was reported during voting hours, a battle in the capital on Saturday between would-be voters and gunmen allied with the protesters left at least seven people wounded and might have deterred voters the next day.

Thailand: Protesters block voting in chaotic election | Digital Journal

Opposition protesters prevented voting at thousands of polling stations in Thailand on Sunday, triggering angry scenes in the capital over an election that plunged the strife-racked kingdom into political limbo. Despite weeks of mass street demonstrations aimed at forcing her from office, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was widely expected to extend her billionaire family’s decade-long winning streak at the ballot box. But the disruption to voting means that the results are not expected for weeks at least, and there will not be enough MPs to convene parliament and appoint a government until new elections are held in the problem areas. An angry crowd gathered outside one voting centre in the Bangkok district of Din Daeng, holding their ID cards in the air and chanting “Vote! Vote!” before storming inside.

Thailand: Gunshots, explosions rock Thai protest day ahead of polls | Reuters

Dozens of gunshots and at least two explosions raised tensions amid anti-government protests in the Thai capital on Saturday, a day ahead of a general election seen as incapable of restoring stability in the deeply polarised country. At least three people were wounded in the violence in front of a suburban shopping mall in the north of Bangkok. Gunmen among the crowds could be seen hiding their weapons before backing away from the shooting. Sporadic gunfire continued as the sun began to set. It was not immediately clear whether the demonstrators or those wounded were the government’s supporters or its opponents, some of whom are aiming to block ballotting in an election almost certain to return Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to power. The attack took place in Bangkok’s Laksi district, close to the Don Muang airport, a stronghold of Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party. Her supporters had gathered to demand Sunday’s ballot is not obstructed. Ten people have died and at least 577 have been wounded in politically related violence since late November. The protesters took to the streets in the latest round of an eight-year conflict broadly between Bangkok’s middle class, southern Thais and the royalist establishment against the mostly rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Thailand: Long legal battle to follow Thai polls, with damaging effect | The Jakarta Post

The February 2 election is set to trigger a lengthy legal battle between the two rival political camps, which are ignoring the negative consequences of the country being dragged into a power vacuum. It is quite certain that the February 2 election will be held, with the likely consequence being that voting cannot be carried out in many constituencies and provinces. No one knows when the voting in these provinces will be able to take place, or how many rounds of advance voting and absentee voting will be carried out, given that anti-government protesters are determined to block the elections. The possibility of completing the whole process of the February 2 poll is thus inevitably thrown into doubt. This may not be surprising; some political parties have rejected it from the very start. Legal specialists such as former Senate speaker Meechai Ruchuphan and People’s Democratic Reform Committee leader Suthep Thaugsuban believe that the solution is to nullify the election – with the April 2, 2006 election serving as an example.

Thailand: Election underway amid continuing turmoil | The Washington Post

Thailand’s tense national election got underway Sunday with protesters forcing the closure of several polling stations in the capital amid fears of more bloodshed a day after gun battles in Bangkok left seven people wounded. The extent of disruptions was not immediately clear when polls opened nationwide. But there were early indications that several hundred polling stations in Bangkok and southern Thailand, an opposition stronghold, could not open because protesters had blocked the delivery of ballots or stopped voters from entering. The outcome will almost certainly be inconclusive. Because protesters blocked candidate registration in some districts, parliament will not have enough members to convene. That means beleaguered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will be unable to form a government or even pass a budget, and Thailand will be stuck in political limbo for months as by-elections are run in constituencies that were unable to vote.

Thailand: Elections in Thailand: The show must go on | The Economist

In front of the Royal Thai Army Club the thuggish rump of a failed people’s revolution gathered to collect their reward. They were to hear the announcement of a temporary interruption of Thai democracy, so that an appointed council of “good men”, as dreamed up by their leader Suthep Thaugsuban, could save the country. Mr Suthep, a former deputy prime minister with the opposition Democrat party, was to be disappointed. There was already a stink of testosterone and aggression in the air. Young men, new veterans of a three-month-long protest against the government, were perched on lorries. They threatened by megaphone to storm the club and rid Thailand of the influence of the “Thaksin regime”, meaning Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime minister (pictured above); as well as her brother, the former prime minister, Thaksin, whom they see as pulling the strings from his refuge in Dubai; and everyone close to them. The protesters are calling their own movement “The People’s Committee for Absolute Democracy with the King as Head of State”. Here at the army club, miles away from the shopping malls and offices in the heart of Bangkok, Mr Suthep’s insurrection has to make do without the benefit of its more well-heeled supporters, the ones who post their revolutionary slogans on the walls of Facebook.