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Thailand tense for disputed general election | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Voters in Thailand are going to the polls in an election boycotted by the opposition and blighted by protests. | |
Anti-government activists have forced some polling stations in Bangkok and the south to close but a large majority elsewhere are said to be peaceful. | |
PM Yingluck Shinawatra called the vote to head off weeks of mass protests aimed at forcing her to resign. | |
Her party is widely expected to win but legal challenges and a lack of a quorum of MPs may create a political limbo. | |
Ms Yingluck, who won the last election in 2011, voted soon after polls opened on Sunday near her Bangkok home. | |
Her opponents took to the streets in November after her government tried to pass an amnesty law that would potentially have allowed her brother, Thaksin, to return from exile. | |
Thaksin, a former prime minister who fled during a court case in 2008, is reviled by the protesters, who say he controls the government from abroad. | Thaksin, a former prime minister who fled during a court case in 2008, is reviled by the protesters, who say he controls the government from abroad. |
'I want to vote' | |
Security is heavy throughout Thailand, with vast areas under a state of emergency because of the protests. | Security is heavy throughout Thailand, with vast areas under a state of emergency because of the protests. |
"The situation overall is calm and we haven't received any reports of violence this morning," National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabutr told Reuters. | "The situation overall is calm and we haven't received any reports of violence this morning," National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabutr told Reuters. |
Security officials said about 130,000 personnel had been deployed across Thailand on Sunday, including 12,000 in Bangkok. | |
Polling stations opened at 08:00 (01:00 GMT) and will close at 15:00 (08:00 GMT), but there has been little campaigning and it is unclear how many Thais will turn out. | Polling stations opened at 08:00 (01:00 GMT) and will close at 15:00 (08:00 GMT), but there has been little campaigning and it is unclear how many Thais will turn out. |
Voting in 13 of Bangkok's 33 constituencies, and in 37 of 56 constituencies in the south was disrupted. | |
These are strongholds of the opposition Democrat Party, which is boycotting the election. | |
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says demonstrators are blocking access to voters at some polling stations and preventing ballot papers reaching those polling stations. | |
Some voters expressed frustration when they found their local polling stations blocked. | |
"This is too much. I want to vote,"' 42-year-old Yupin Pintong told the Associated Press news agency. "I don't care if there's violence. I will be really upset if I don't get to vote." | "This is too much. I want to vote,"' 42-year-old Yupin Pintong told the Associated Press news agency. "I don't care if there's violence. I will be really upset if I don't get to vote." |
Anti-government activist Nipon Kaewsook told Reuters: "We're not blocking the election. We're postponing it.. We still need an election, but we need reform first." | |
Polling in the rural north and east, where Ms Yingluck's Pheu Thai party has overwhelming support, is largely unaffected. | |
"Today is an important day,'" Ms Yingluck said as she voted. "I would like to invite Thai people to come out and vote to uphold democracy." | |
However, disruption to candidate registration means that even if she wins, there will not be enough MPs in parliament for Ms Yingluck to have full power over government policy, and by-elections will be needed. | |
The opposition is also likely to mount legal challenges to the election. | |
Ms Yingluck's party is already facing a host of challenges in the courts aiming to disband it, as has happened with pro-Thaksin parties in the past. | |
The Democrat Party, which is allied to the protesters, has been unable to win a majority in parliament for more than two decades. | The Democrat Party, which is allied to the protesters, has been unable to win a majority in parliament for more than two decades. |
Many of its members want the government to be replaced by an unelected "people's council" that would oversee wide reform of the political system. | |
Trouble broke out in Bangkok on Saturday in a violent clash between pro- and anti-government groups. | |
A gun battle erupted in the Lak Si constituency as anti-government protesters blockaded a building storing ballot papers. | |
At least seven people were wounded. | |
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. | Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. |
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