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| Court Voids Thailand’s February Election, Adding to Political Turmoil | Court Voids Thailand’s February Election, Adding to Political Turmoil |
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| BANGKOK — Thailand’s Constitutional Court annulled the country’s February general election on Friday, throwing an already murky political situation into further doubt. | BANGKOK — Thailand’s Constitutional Court annulled the country’s February general election on Friday, throwing an already murky political situation into further doubt. |
| The election was called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in response to months of demonstrations in Bangkok. Protesters have been calling for Ms. Yingluck’s ouster, and for Thai politics to be rid of the influence of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire ex-prime minister who wields considerable power from abroad. | The election was called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in response to months of demonstrations in Bangkok. Protesters have been calling for Ms. Yingluck’s ouster, and for Thai politics to be rid of the influence of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire ex-prime minister who wields considerable power from abroad. |
| Protesters disrupted the election on Feb. 2, preventing voters from registering and casting ballots in Bangkok and southern Thailand, the stronghold of the movement against the government. In 28 election districts in the south, people seeking office were prevented from registering as candidates. | Protesters disrupted the election on Feb. 2, preventing voters from registering and casting ballots in Bangkok and southern Thailand, the stronghold of the movement against the government. In 28 election districts in the south, people seeking office were prevented from registering as candidates. |
| Advance voting was held on Jan. 26, and after the disrupted February vote, some districts held compensation votes on March 2. But because Thailand did not hold voting across the country on the same day, as required by its Constitution, the election was unconstitutional, the court found Friday in a 6-to-3 ruling. | |
| Ms. Yingluck, who has run a caretaker government since dissolving Parliament and calling the election, gave no immediate public response to the ruling, and the next steps for Thailand were unclear. | Ms. Yingluck, who has run a caretaker government since dissolving Parliament and calling the election, gave no immediate public response to the ruling, and the next steps for Thailand were unclear. |
| “We should see that the next election is the way to lead the country into peace,” an election commissioner, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, said after the ruling. He himself was prevented from voting on Feb. 2 after protesters kept ballot boxes from being delivered to his polling place. “And this is the solution, for the country and every political party to focus on the election. If it turns out this way, I think the crisis will be reduced.” | “We should see that the next election is the way to lead the country into peace,” an election commissioner, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, said after the ruling. He himself was prevented from voting on Feb. 2 after protesters kept ballot boxes from being delivered to his polling place. “And this is the solution, for the country and every political party to focus on the election. If it turns out this way, I think the crisis will be reduced.” |
| But there was no indication Friday of when another election might be held, and it was far from clear that a new round of voting would be any more successful. The main opposition group, the Democrat Party, which has allied itself with the protest movement, boycotted the election. The party’s leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former prime minister, said Friday, “I cannot tell if the party will boycott once again or not.” | But there was no indication Friday of when another election might be held, and it was far from clear that a new round of voting would be any more successful. The main opposition group, the Democrat Party, which has allied itself with the protest movement, boycotted the election. The party’s leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former prime minister, said Friday, “I cannot tell if the party will boycott once again or not.” |
| Mr. Abhisit added: “The standpoint of the Democrat Party is wanting elections to be held in an orderly way and to be accepted from all sides. If that happens, our party is ready.” | Mr. Abhisit added: “The standpoint of the Democrat Party is wanting elections to be held in an orderly way and to be accepted from all sides. If that happens, our party is ready.” |
| The protesters are seeking to overthrow the government and replace it with an unelected council of technocrats, and they have been massing in the streets since November. While the protests in Bangkok are a shadow of what they were a few months ago, their leaders have pledged to disrupt another election should one be held. | The protesters are seeking to overthrow the government and replace it with an unelected council of technocrats, and they have been massing in the streets since November. While the protests in Bangkok are a shadow of what they were a few months ago, their leaders have pledged to disrupt another election should one be held. |
| “If the Feb. 2 election is nullified, and if you are thinking that you will hold a new election — no way! You cannot do that,” the movement’s leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, said Thursday before a cheering crowd at Lumpini Park. “The people do not want it. Our operation last time nullified it, this time we will do it again in all provinces. And it will be even more invalid.” | “If the Feb. 2 election is nullified, and if you are thinking that you will hold a new election — no way! You cannot do that,” the movement’s leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, said Thursday before a cheering crowd at Lumpini Park. “The people do not want it. Our operation last time nullified it, this time we will do it again in all provinces. And it will be even more invalid.” |
| The government has strong support in the north and northeast of the country, largely because Mr. Thaksin was the first Thai politician to devise policies that specifically addressed the needs of poorer, rural residents. | The government has strong support in the north and northeast of the country, largely because Mr. Thaksin was the first Thai politician to devise policies that specifically addressed the needs of poorer, rural residents. |