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Thai ruling party leans away from postponing polls
Thailand's ruling party on Saturday questioned the reasoning behind a court decision saying a general election in just over a week can be postponed, but held open the possibility that it might put off the polls if its political rivals recognize the legitimacy of a new vote
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hailand's ruling party on Saturday questioned the reasoning behind a court decision saying a general election in just over a week can be postponed, but held open the possibility that it might put off the polls if its political rivals recognize the legitimacy of a new vote.
Officials from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ruling Pheu Thai Party said that a Constitutional Court ruling saying it could postpone the polls seemed to have no solid legal basis.
However, they hinted the government would consider a postponement of the Feb. 2 polls if the opposition Democrat Party, which plans to boycott the polls, agrees to take part, and if anti-government demonstrators cease their protests demanding that Yingluck step down before any election so that an appointed interim government can implement anti-corruption reforms.
But neither the Democrats nor the protesters have agreed to such terms.
"This isn't about compromise," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said Saturday. "The people (protesting) will never go home because what the people want is political and national reform."
The debate over postponing the election came as polling stations across the country were preparing for advance voting on Sunday despite threats from protesters to block that. Volunteers and election workers turned up Saturday to get instructions and training at stations that in some parts of the country are likely to see confrontation when the polls open.
Problems are most likely in Bangkok where there are 50 venues, and in Thailand's south, a stronghold of the opposition.
Yingluck's government is under extreme pressure from the protesters after more than two months of street demonstrations in the capital. The protest group, calling itself the People's Democratic Reform Committee, has occupied key intersections in Bangkok and tried to shut down government offices and prevent civil servants from working.
The protesters say Yingluck's government is carrying on the practices of Thaksin Shinawatra, her billionaire brother who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, by using the family fortune and state funds to influence voters and cement its power.
Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 after street protests accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. The coup triggered a sometimes-violent and still active struggle for power between Thaksin's supporters and opponents. He fled into exile in 2008 to avoid a two-year prison sentence for a conflict of interest.
