UBON RATCHATHANI: Leaders of Thailand’s biggest opposition party campaigning on Monday never mentioned ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose policies they espouse, nor the princess whose shock candidacy could see its ally banned from the March 24 election.
They didn’t need to. Supporters in the northeastern stronghold of the Pheu Thai party are well aware of the complexities of the first general election since a 2014 coup — and are determined to return their party to power despite electoral rules limiting their voting power.
“How long have you all waited, how long have you all suffered?” asked Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai’s top prime ministerial candidate, asked supporters during a campaign stop in Ubon Ratchathani province.
“We all have to wait just a little while, until March 24. That day will be a day of victory for all of us!” she told the cheering crowd.
Pheu Thai is the largest of several parties in the election linked to ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile after a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated.
The party and its offshoots retain support among rural farmers and the poor for their social welfare programmes, but they face an uphill battle in the election, with new rules that prevent any one party gaining a big majority.
Junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as army chief in 2014 ousted the last civilian government, is also running, as the prime ministerial candidate of a new pro-military party.
Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, but after Thaksin was ousted their successive governments have been ended either by court rulings or coups, with the most recent military takeover ousting a Pheu Thai government that Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck, had led.
After nearly five years in power, the junta is in the process of choosing all 250 members of the Senate, which will elect a prime minister along with the 500-seat House of Representatives, putting pro-military forces at a significant advantage even before election.
Supporters of Pheu Thai say the new rules are aimed at ridding the country of Thaksin’s influence once and for all. The party has to distance itself from the former telecommunications tycoon because the law on political parties forbids outsiders from controlling or directing them.
“I think Pheu Thai will win by a landslide, despite what’s happened, and regardless of the military-appointed Senate,” said Kriangsak Lamun, 64. — Reuters
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