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BANGKOK: Allies of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra began hard
bargaining Monday in a bid to form a coalition government after
falling short of a majority in the first polls since last year’s
coup.
The generals who toppled Thaksin’s
twice-elected government have made little secret that they want to
keep supporters of the exiled self-made billionaire out of power
after trying for more than a year to erase his legacy.
But the pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP)
looked set to win 228 of the 480 parliament seats up for grabs in
Sunday’s election, according to unofficial results from the
Election Commission.
A complete count of the votes was expected later
Monday.
PPP leader Samak Sundaravej declared late Sunday
he would become the next prime minister “for sure,” but his
failure to win an absolute majority has forced it to woo small
parties to set up a new government.
“Now hard negotiations begin after the
election. Although PPP is a top winner, it has to invite small
parties to launch a coalition government,” said Ukrist Pathmanand,
a professor of political science.
“We are going to see intense negotiations
between PPP and small parties,” said Ukrist from Bangkok’s
Chulalongkorn University.
PPP’s closest rival, the Democrat Party, was
set to win 166 seats, with five smaller parties dividing up the
rest.
The Democrats’ leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has
refused to bow out.
“If PPP succeeds in forming a coalition, the
Democrat Party is ready to become the opposition. If the PPP fails,
then the Democrat Party is ready to form its own coalition,”
Abhisit told a news conference late Sunday.
With the shape of a new government still
uncertain, rumors swirled in Bangkok that the heads of two small
parties went to see royal adviser and respected former premier
General Prem Tinsulanonda late Sunday.
Prem is believed to have played a prominent role
in last year’s coup. His secretary denied such a meeting.
PPP’s strong lead in the election was seen as
a repudiation of the coup, and Thai papers said Monday the results
showed voters wanted a full return to democracy after 15 months of
military rule.
“The election was an important but ultimately
a small step on the road back to democracy,” the Bangkok Post said
in an editorial.
Thais “want to put the past 15 months of
military rule behind them and turn back to the democratic path,”
the English-language paper said, adding “everyone” must accept
the outcome of the polls.
PPP’s coalition government could set the stage
for Thaksin’s political comeback. Since the coup, the former
premier has been in self-imposed exile in Britain, where he bought
Manchester City Football Club.
The junta dissolved Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai
(Thais Love Thais) party and banned him from political office, but
the man who made a fortune in telecoms has remained a dominant and
divisive figure in Thai politics.
PPP campaigned on promises to bring back
Thaksin’s populist economic policies and to bring him back to
Thailand.
But few analysts believe the election will
resolve deep divisions between anti-Thaksin urban dwellers and the
rural masses, who remain loyal to the deposed leader.
PPP draws most of its support from farmers, the
majority of Thailand’s 64-million population, who remember
Thaksin’s efforts to boost the rural economy during his five-year
rule.
The Democrat Party is popular among Bangkok’s
middle-class, who last year spearheaded anti-Thaksin protests that
culminated in the coup.
Mathichon, a major Thai-language daily, was
pessimistic Monday, saying the election did little to solve a deep
social division between pro- and anti-Thaksin forces.
“The division has remained unchanged,” it
said. “It is still uncertain that we will return to a real peace
after the December 23 election.”
-- AFP
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