Bangkok - Thai opposition party Puea Thai won another
by-election in north-east Thailand, demonstrating the popularity of
fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the impoverished
region, election officials said Monday.
Puea Thai candidate Surachart Charnpradit won 124,327 votes
against Chart Thai Pattana candidate Sakulthip Angkasakullkiat's
76,435 votes, in the Si Sa Ket province election Sunday, according to
the Election Commission's unofficial tally Monday morning.
It was the second parliamentary by-election victory this month for
the Puea Thai opposition party, which is led by the former prime
minister who was ousted by a coup in September 2006.
On June 21, the Puea Thai candidate won a landslide victory over
its rival Bhumjaithai Party candidate in Sakhon Nakhorn province,
also in north-east Thailand.
Both Chart Thai Pattana and Bhumjaithai are members of the
coalition government led by the Democrat Party of Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Si Sa Ket and Sakhon Nakhorn provinces were past strongholds of
the Thai Rak Thai party, led by Thaksin, that dominated Thai politics
during his two-term premiership between 2001-06.
'The by-election results show that the Thaksin phenomenon is alive
and well, despite the setbacks of the April riots,' said Thitinan
Phongsudhirak, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University.
In April, Thaksin supporters disrupted a regional summit of
South-East Asian leaders in Pattaya, Thailand, forcing Abhisit to
cancel the event. They then took their anti-government demonstration
to Bangkok where street riots led to an army crackdown.
Thaksin, living in self-exile since August last year, was blamed
for inciting his supporters to violent unrest, damaging the country's
fragile stability and undermining its international image.
Despite the arrest of several protest leaders, the movement staged
a rally in support of Thaksin in Bangkok on Saturday, drawing an
estimated 28,000 followers who called for a royal amnesty for the
former premier, who faces a two-year jail term for abuse of power.
Although Thaksin has been banned from Thai politics and lives in
self-exile, he is the main backer of the Puea Thai, and the party's
by-election victories are regarded as his own.
The billionaire former telecommunications tycoon used populist
policies to win the loyalty of Thailand's north-east constituencies,
which remain loyal to him.
With more than half of Thailand's population residing in the
north-east, also called Isaan, a new election would probably bring
Puea Thai, and its main financial supporter Thaksin, to power.
'The Sakhon Nakhorn and Si Sa Ket outcomes are not good omens for
the Democrats,' Thitinan said.
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