by Thanaporn Promyamyai -- Thu May 19, 8.04 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thailand's election battle got into full swing on Thursday as a mass opposition rally to mourn protesters killed in a military crackdown a year ago underscored simmering political tensions.
The vote, set for July 3, is shaping up to be a close fight pitting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's establishment-backed Democrats against allies of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
Thousands of opposition "Red Shirts" -- who are broadly loyal to Thaksin -- gathered in Bangkok to mark the first anniversary of a deadly military operation to break up their two-month rally, which sparked Thailand's worst political bloodshed in decades.
Police estimated that up to 15,000 people had massed in the capital's retail heart by early evening under stormy skies.
More than 90 people, mostly civilians, died in a series of street clashes between demonstrators and armed troops in April and May last year.
Relatives of the victims say they are still waiting for answers from the authorities about who was responsible.
Almost two thousand police officers were deployed for Thursday's gathering -- the latest in a series of one-day rallies in recent months that have ended peacefully -- with tens of thousands of people expected to attend.
"I couldn't miss this anniversary because many people sacrificed themselves at last year's protest," said Red Shirt supporter Soomboon Peng-In, a farmer from northeastern Thailand who made the long trip to Bangkok for the rally.
Abhisit says he hopes the upcoming election will help heal Thailand's festering political wounds but observers fear it could bring more unrest and possibly even another military coup if the opposition wins.
Registrations for candidates under the proportional representation system began on Thursday and the premier took two days' leave from his official duties to throw his hat in the ring to win a second term, and hit the campaign trail.
The British-born, Oxford-educated premier's party, Thailand's oldest, draws most of its support from Bangkok and the south but it has not won a general election in nearly two decades.
Abhisit took over as the head of a coalition government in a 2008 parliamentary vote after a judicial ruling threw out the previous administration, and he is accused by his political foes of being an unelected puppet of the military and the establishment.
His main rival in the lower house election race is Thaksin's youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who is the main opposition Puea Thai party's candidate for premier.
Puea Thai won a psychological victory Thursday when it was allocated the top spot on the ballot paper, selecting number one in a lottery to decide how 26 parties contesting the vote would be ranked. Democrats selected number 10.
If it wins, the opposition party is considering issuing an amnesty to politicians, including Thaksin, who have been charged or convicted.
But Yingluck denied her brother would get special treatment.
"I don't want people to only focus on an amnesty only. I want people to rely on reconciliation and justice first," the 43-year-old businesswoman told Thai TV. "Everything must be done by the rules, equally for everyone."
Although he lives abroad to escape a jail term imposed in absentia for corruption, Thaksin is widely considered the de facto leader of the Puea Thai party and his politically inexperienced sister is viewed as his proxy.
Puea Thai has wide support among the largely rural and working-class Red Shirts and about 10 of the protest movement's leaders registered as candidates for the party.
The former telecoms tycoon is hailed by the Reds for his policies for the poor while in power, but he is reviled by the Thai ruling elite and faces terrorism charges, accused of bankrolling and inciting last year's protests.
Loading...
14:33
Thai Election 2011- Special TV Show - 1by TheFeedream1,236 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)