Thailand voted on Sunday under heavy security in violence-plagued snap polls boycotted by the Opposition, which forced cancellation of voting in 45 seats across the deeply polarised country.
Despite anti-Government protesters blocking voting at several places, officials said the exercise was relatively peaceful and 89.2 per cent of polling stations operated normally. Election Commission chairman Supachai Phucharoen said voting was reported from 83,813 of 93,532 stations.
Unfazed by months of street protests aimed at forcing her to scrap the polls, beleaguered Premier Yingluck Shinawatra was among the early voters. She cast her ballot in front of the media and TV channels.
At least nine people were wounded on the eve of the disputed polls as explosions and gunshots rang out in Bangkok’s lak Si area when clashes erupted between pro-Govt “red shirts” and Opposition activists.
The counting began immediately after the voting ended at 3 pm (0130 IST), but the Election Commission (EC) said the results would not be announced immediately. The EC has scheduled a further voting for February 23 after protesters disrupted advance voting last Sunday.
Ballots in some southern areas are unlikely to happen for weeks, fuelling speculation that the election might push the country deeper into political turmoil.
Officials said protesters disrupted polling in 127 of 375 constituencies nationwide, including 13 of Bangkok’s 33 constituencies. Polling could not be held in at least three constituencies Bangkok, including lak Si.
In southern Thailand, a stronghold of the opposition Democrat Party, voting was cancelled in nine of 14 provinces, while 37 of 56 constituencies suffered disruption.
Some six million registered voters were affected by the closures, the EC said.Polling in the northern and northeastern regions - the ruling Pheu
Thai Party’s strongholds - was unaffected, and 122 out of 127 polling stations opened in the central and eastern provinces, officials said.
leader of the anti-government People’s Democratic Reforms Committee (PDRC), Suthep Thaugsuban, threatened to take legal action against Yingluck for wasting taxpayers’ money on polls.
“There were only 16 to 17 people at some stations, especially those in the southern provinces of Chumphon, Surat Thani, Ranong, Krabi, Phuket, Songkhla, Satun, Yala and Pattani,” he said. Suthep, a former deputy premier, said protesters did notobstruct anyone from voting nor did they intervene at polling units.
“After the protesters emerge victorious, the PDRC will take legal action against Ms Yingluck for spending 3.8 billion baht without listening to other people who disagreed with holding this election,” he said.
Yingluck had called for the snap polls in an attempt to quell nearly three months of protests, often violent, aimed at toppling her government and installing an unelected “People’s Council” to carry out political and electoral reforms.
More than 93,000 polling stations were set up across the country and around 120,000 police personnel deployed. Army deployed 5,000 soldiers in the capital to prevent violence. Over 47 million voters were eligible to cast their vote.
India had advised its citizens to take precautions for their safety, warning that “higher levels of protests are likely, which could lead to violent incidents/disruptions”.
The protesters accuse Yingluck of acting as a proxy for her fugitive brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a coup in 2006. He lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to escape a jail term on a corruption conviction.
The outcome of the polls is expected to be inconclusive as protesters blocked candidate registration in some districts last month hence parliament will not have enough members to convene. Speculation is rife that the army might intervene if the election leads to political limbo.
At least 10 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes since the opposition rallies began last year. The ongoing unrest was triggered by an amnesty bill that could have facilitated Thaksin’s return to the country.
The recent violence is the worst political bloodshed in Thailand since 2010 when protests by pro-Thaksin “Red Shirts” left more than 90 dead and nearly 1,900 injured in clashes and a military crackdown.
PTI