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Coming Election Widens Rift in Thailand’s Political Crisis Antigovernment Protesters Vow to Block Elections and ‘Shut Down’ Thailand
(about 2 hours later)
BANGKOK — The dueling realities of Thailand’s political crisis were vividly on display on Sunday. BANGKOK — In one of the more provocative moves of Thailand’s monthlong political crisis, antigovernment protesters marching through Bangkok on Sunday vowed to disrupt the coming elections in their campaign to rid the country of its most influential political family.
In Bangkok, antigovernment protesters blocked traffic at major intersections and marched to the house of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, demanding she step down. As tens of thousands of protesters rallied at several points in Bangkok, the capital, the main protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, instructed his followers to gather outside the building where the governing party of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other smaller parties had planned to register for the Feb. 2 national elections.
But Ms. Yingluck was absent. She was ensconced among adoring crowds in northeastern Thailand, the power base of her party, a vast region with a population that rivals Bangkok. “If you want to register, you will have to walk past our feet,” said Mr. Suthep, who vowed to organize more protests if necessary.
Like red and blue states in America, Thailand’s geographical divides have become even sharper as the country’s month-old political crisis wears on. And more than ever the country is split over whether elections are the answer to the country’s woes or whether Thailand should suspend democracy while it “reforms” its political system, the plan advocated by protesters. “We will shut down the country; we will block everyone casting ballots,” he said.
Ms. Yingluck, the head of the governing party that is confident of victory in Feb. 2 national elections, has been in election mode, spending most of the past week north of Bangkok meeting with throngs of supporters. She called the elections earlier this month in an effort to defuse the crisis. The dueling realities of Thailand’s grinding political turmoil were vividly on display on Sunday. As protesters massed in Bangkok and blocked major intersections, Ms. Yingluck was hundreds of miles away in friendly territory among adoring crowds in northeastern Thailand, the power base of her party, a vast region with a population that rivals Bangkok’s.
The country’s main opposition party, the Democrats, which has failed to win a national election since 1992, announced Saturday that its members would boycott the election. As with the divisions of the red and blue states of the United States, Thailand’s geographical divides have become even sharper as the crisis has continued. The country is split over whether elections are the answer to the impasse or whether the country should suspend democracy while it “reforms” its political system, the plan advocated by protesters.
Ms. Yingluck on Sunday criticized the planned boycott. The Democrat Party, which leads the country’s opposition but has struggled over the past two decades to attract voters in the provinces, said on Saturday that its members would boycott the elections, tightening the party’s alliance with protesters and further polarizing the country.
“Even if they do not accept this government, they must accept the system,” she told the Thai media. “The government has already returned power to the people and let them decide the future of the country.” Opposition leaders and the protesters accuse Ms. Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire tycoon and former prime minister, of subverting democracy. Mr. Thaksin, who fled the country in 2008 before being convicted of abuse of power, wields his influence over the party from exile.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party, which is Thailand’s oldest political party and has its power base in the country’s old moneyed elite, justified the decision on Saturday by saying the elections would be the “same old power grab” by the governing party and its allies. Mr. Thaksin’s allies counter that elections, which were called by Ms. Yingluck two weeks ago, are the only way forward for the country.
“The election on Feb. 2 is not the solution for the country,” Mr. Abhisit, a former prime minister, said after meeting with party leaders on Saturday. “It will not lead to reform.” “Even if they do not accept this government, they must accept the system,” Ms. Yingluck told the Thai news media on Sunday. “The government has already returned power to the people and let them decide the future of the country.”
The Democrat Party and the protesters are deeply frustrated by the electoral power and influence of Ms. Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon who founded the country’s most successful political movement. They accuse Mr. Thaksin of subverting democracy through corruption and populist policies. Charupong Ruengsuwan, the leader of the governing party, Pheu Thai, said he was confident that candidates would be able to register for the elections.
The government counters that the opposition is afraid of elections because it will lose, an electoral calculation supported by many scholars who say the ruling Pheu Thai Party has created a strong base with its policies. Many voters, especially the less affluent, are grateful for policies such as universal health care and an increase in the minimum wage. “I will go to the registration venue every day until we can get inside or until the election commission changes the venue,” he said Sunday on Thai television.
Chaturon Chaisang, the education minister and a senior member of the governing party, accused the Democrat Party of “setting conditions for a possible coup d'état.” The last time the Democrats boycotted elections was in 2006, another period of political turmoil, which culminated with a coup against Mr. Thaksin. But the volatility of the crisis was underlined by statements made Sunday by members of the pro-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, a group also known as the Red Shirts.
The current political crisis, which comes during the high season for tourism in Thailand and a fragile time for the Thai economy, has brought the military back to the forefront of politics. Protesters are openly asking for the military’s backing, and military leaders have helped arrange meetings between the government and its detractors. The group is watching whether “rebels stir up violence or intimidate the candidates,” said Tida Thawornseth, the chairwoman of the group, which says it has tens of thousands of followers.
The head of the army, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, said on Friday that the crisis “must be solved through political means,” and warned of “battles between people” if political differences are not resolved. “We will rise to fight only if there is a coup,” Ms. Tida said.
The protests on Sunday are the latest in a series of marches that have drawn hundreds of thousands of people. At the height of the protests several weeks ago, demonstrators took over some government buildings. They have since ceded control of the buildings, but have not stopped the marches. Mr. Thaksin was removed as prime minister by the military in 2006, an event that helped set off the continuing cycle of political unrest. The coup makers also initiated a number of legal proceedings against him, including one case that led to the 2008 conviction.
Protest leaders say their plan is “reform before elections,” an ambitious idea beyond the scope of the Thai Constitution. On Sunday, protesters in Bangkok, who rallied beside shopping malls decorated for Christmas and New Year, said they were sure that if elections were held the governing party would return to power. The party, they said, does not respect the country’s king and passes “populist” policies that benefit farmers and other government supporters but that harm the country as a whole.
Suthep Thaugsuban, the charismatic leader of the protests, has called for the creation of an unelected legislature called the People’s Council that would be partly composed of citizens from various professions and partly appointed by Mr. Suthep and other protest leaders. “Our country is an agricultural society — we are not ready for democracy,” said Saran Seedum, a 24-year-old university student from southern Thailand.
He hopes that such a council would pass new electoral laws, end the longstanding practice of vote buying, overhaul the police force, allow any citizen to bring corruption charges against government ministers and other senior officials, and abolish the populist policies that have made Mr. Thaksin’s political movement so popular in the northern half of the country. “I think we need to restore the absolute monarchy,” he said, echoing a surprisingly common sentiment among protesters. “Let the king appoint good people to run the country.”
“When everything is settled,” Mr. Suthep said last week, “we will go back to elections.” Darunee Kerdkhao, 48, a teacher who lives in Bangkok, said she had joined the protest because the governing party had a lot of money and she feared that the votes of “simple minded” citizens in northern parts of the country could be bought.
Ms. Yingluck on Saturday countered with a proposal for a “reform assembly” that would be formulated after the elections. “The protesters here are all educated people,” she said.
While the Democrats are by far the largest opposition party, a number of smaller parties, including a provincial party led by former Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa, have indicated they are ready to contest the election. But watching the protests with disdain was Som Srisuwan, 48, a motorcycle-taxi driver who said he was grateful that Mr. Thaksin had introduced universal health care and that the governing party was forging ahead with plans for high-speed trains in the country.
And in a vivid symbol of the mercurial alliances in Thai politics, the man who led the coup in 2006, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, said his party would participate, although he also was quoted in the Thai media urging for a delay. Everyone in his village in northeastern Thailand planned to vote in the elections, he said.
The protesters, including many present and former members of the Democrat Party, have said the power of their movement should be judged by the large number of protesters on the streets. Government supporters have scoffed at this logic, saying popularity should be judged in the voting booth. “It’s impossible to stop the election,” he said. “How can we live without any rules, without any leaders?”
“If you really have such huge numbers of people,” said Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of a political faction that supports the government, “why are you opposing the election?” He dismissed the protests as a “ridiculous movement.”