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Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Violence Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Violence
(about 4 hours later)
BANGKOK — After chaotic clashes between the police and antigovernment protesters in Bangkok Thursday that left one police officer dead and dozens of people injured on both sides, the Election Commission of Thailand urged the postponement of the country’s Feb. 2 elections, further clouding the way forward for Thailand after a month of debilitating street protests. BANGKOK — After chaotic clashes between the police and antigovernment protesters in Bangkok on Thursday left one police officer dead and dozens of people injured, the Election Commission of Thailand urged that national elections scheduled for Feb. 2 be postponed, further clouding the country’s future after a month of debilitating street protests.
A postponement would be a victory for the protesters, who oppose the elections on the grounds that they will probably return to power the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose party is very popular in the northern half of the country but despised by many southerners and members of the Thai elite. The proposed delay was rejected by Phongthep Thepkanjana, a deputy prime minister, who said the government had no power to postpone the elections and warned that a delay could lead to “prolonged violence.”
Charupong Ruangsuwan, the head of the governing party, who is also interior minister in the outgoing government, reacted angrily to the proposed postponement. A postponement would be a victory for the protesters, who oppose the elections on the grounds that they will probably return to power the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose party is very popular in the northern half of the country but is despised by many southerners and members of the Thai elite.
“I insist that the Election Commission has to comply with the law,” he said in televised remarks. “The Election Commission has a duty to carry out the whole process.” Over the past month, protesters have raided government ministry buildings, cut power to government offices and police stations, and marched through Bangkok in huge numbers. On Thursday, they tried to raid a Bangkok stadium where political parties were completing pre-election formalities.
Protesters have rejected offers by the government for negotiations. Their goal, they say, is the eradication of the Shinawatra “regime” from the country. Over the past month, protesters have raided government ministries, cut power to government offices and police stations and marched through Bangkok in huge numbers. On Thursday, they attempted to raid the Bangkok stadium where political parties were completing pre-election formalities. Their attacks on the stadium were thwarted by riot police officers. One officer was killed by gunfire, 15 officers had gunshot wounds and 17 suffered other injuries, the police said.
Their attempts to seize the stadium were thwarted by riot police. One police officer was killed by gunfire and 24 others were wounded, including 10 in critical condition, the police said. In addition, several dozen protesters were injured by tear gas and rubber bullets. Although many of the protesters who have marched through Bangkok in recent weeks are from the upper echelons of Thai society, the group that attacked the riot police on Thursday was part of a hard-core faction. About 70 protesters were injured, as were several journalists.
Election Commission officials were evacuated from the site by helicopter.Election Commission officials were evacuated from the site by helicopter.
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher in Thailand at Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter that democracy in Thailand had been “hijacked by violence & thuggery.” Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher in Thailand at Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter that democracy in Thailand had been “hijacked by violence and thuggery.”
“Shame!” he wrote.“Shame!” he wrote.
In comments to reporters Thursday, the head of the Election Commission, Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, said he “urged” the government to postpone elections. But he also said the elections would not take place on Feb. 2 unless protesters reached an accommodation with the government. Thailand is politically divided between its north and south and between allies and detractors of the Shinawatra clan, the country’s most influential political family, which protesters accuse of subverting Thai democracy and overshadowing the country’s king, a highly emotional issue.
“If there’s no understanding or agreement in our society, the election on February 2 is not going to happen,” he said. The political crisis comes as the Thai economy is slowing and vulnerable. The protests may have contributed to a drop of more than 10 percent in the value of the baht, the Thai currency, since April, although other currencies in the region have also fallen against the United States dollar. Thailand’s Finance Ministry said on Thursday that the country’s economy probably grew at an anemic 2.8 percent this year, lower than forecast, and that growth would suffer next year if the political turmoil endured.
Thailand is politically divided between its north and south and between allies and detractors of the Shinawatra clan, the country’s most influential political family. In comments to reporters on Thursday, the head of the Election Commission, Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, said he had urged the government to postpone the elections. But he also said they would not take place on Feb. 2 unless protesters reached an accommodation with the government.
The political crisis appears to have contributed to a drop in the baht, the Thai currency, and has been blamed for a decline in the stock market. Although the protests have on most days been confined to a limited area of Bangkok, hoteliers say the crisis has also caused cancellations during what is traditionally Thailand’s peak tourism season. “If there’s no understanding or agreement in our society, the election on Feb. 2 is not going to happen,” he said.
The protesters are closely allied with Thailand’s Democrat Party, the oldest political party in the country, which has struggled over the past decade to compete with the popularity of Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who is Ms. Yingluck’s older brother. In separate comments made to a Thai television station, he gave what appeared to be the rationale for the proposed delay.
The Democrats announced last weekend that they would boycott the Feb. 2 elections. Every other major party in the country has said it will participate. “We used to think that elections were the way to solve problems in society, like starting over,” Mr. Somchai said. But the dissolution of Parliament this month and the call for elections seemed to escalate violence.
The crisis has confounded many observers because the protesters who on some days have numbered in the hundreds of thousands in Bangkok are marching against elections. “I am afraid that the society will be in conflict and turn violent,” he said. “It’s as if it’s not worth it to have elections.”
Chuwit Kamolvisit, the leader of a small opposition party, Rak Prathetthai, decried what he called a “bloody election.” Charupong Ruangsuwan, the head of the governing party, who is also the country’s interior minister, reacted angrily to the proposed postponement.
“I don’t know why elections, which are accepted as international standards of democratic systems, are heavily opposed like this,” he said in a Facebook posting Thursday. The government and the protesters differ over whether they want reforms before or after elections, he said. But “at the end of the day it will come down to elections.” “I insist that the Election Commission has to comply with the law,” he said in televised remarks. “The Election Commission has a duty to carry out the whole process.”
Ichal Supriadi, the executive director of the Asian Network for Free Elections, an organization that observes and monitors elections, said there have been cases in other countries in which people opposed elections, sometimes on security grounds, but this was the first time he had witnessed such a mass movement against elections. The protests on most days have been confined to a limited area of Bangkok, and many visitors to the sprawling city have been unaware of the turmoil. But hoteliers say the crisis has led to cancellations during what is traditionally Thailand’s peak tourism season.
Mr. Ichal issued a statement on Tuesday lauding the “unique role that elections hold in a democracy” and urging protesters to allow the voting process to proceed. The protesters are closely allied with Thailand’s Democrat Party, the oldest political party in the country, which has struggled over the past decade to compete with the popularity of Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who is Yingluck Shinawatra’s older brother.
“All efforts and plans to forcibly impede the election process should cease,” the organization, known as Anfrel, said in the statement. The Democrats announced last weekend that they would boycott the Feb. 2 elections. Every other major party has said it will participate.
Mr. Ichal, who is from Indonesia, said Thailand had “shown a degree of professionalism” in conducting elections in the past. The crisis has confounded many observers because the protesters who on some days have numbered in the hundreds of thousands in Bangkok are opposed to elections, in effect demanding less democracy, not more.
The governing party, Pheu Thai, won a landslide in the last election in 2011 with a turnout of 75 percent. The Democrats conceded defeat. Chuwit Kamolvisit, the leader of a small opposition party, Rak Prathetthai, said he did not understand the objections.
“We are not taking sides but we believe that elections are the only mechanism to count every individual in Thailand,” Mr. Ichal said in an interview. “I don’t know why elections, which are accepted as international standards of democratic systems, are heavily opposed like this,” he said in a Facebook posting on Thursday. The government and the protesters differ over whether they want changes before or after elections, he said. But “at the end of the day,” he added, “it will come down to elections.”

Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.

Protesters have rejected offers by the government for negotiations. Their goal, they say, is the eradication of the Shinawatra “regime” from the country.
Ichal Supriadi, the executive director of the Asian Network for Free Elections, an organization that monitors elections, said people in other countries have opposed elections, sometimes on security grounds. But this is the first time he has witnessed such a mass movement against elections, he said.
In what read like an introductory course on democracy, Mr. Ichal issued a statement on Tuesday lauding the “unique role” of elections and urging protesters to allow the voting to proceed.
“All efforts and plans to forcibly impede the election process should cease,” his organization said in the statement.
Mr. Ichal, who is from Indonesia, said Thailand had shown “a degree of professionalism” in conducting elections in the past.
The governing party, Pheu Thai, won in a landslide in the last election, in 2011, with a turnout of 75 percent. The Democrats conceded defeat.
“We are not taking sides, but we believe that elections are the only mechanism to count every individual in Thailand,” Mr. Ichal said in an interview.