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Protesters Block Vote Centers in Thai Capital - New York Times

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Asia Pacific |Protesters Block Vote Centers in Thai Capital



http://nyti.ms/1gfiJlZ




An antigovernment protester waved a flag in front of the locked gates of a polling station after it was forced to close. Damir Sagolj/Reuters

BANGKOK — Hundreds of thousands of Thais were blocked from voting on Sunday as antigovernment demonstrators obstructed polling centers in Bangkok and southern Thailand in a campaign to suspend democracy and replace Parliament with an unelected “people’s council.”


In a day of sometimes-tense confrontations between protesters and would-be voters, one protest leader was shot dead by an unknown assailant and 11 people were wounded, according to Bangkok emergency services. The protest leader, Suthin Tharatin, was shot as he tried to block a polling center on the outskirts of Bangkok, heightening fears of more widespread violence.


Critics of the protest movement, which is battling to purge the country of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her influential family, called Sunday’s shutdown of polling centers a major blow to democracy in Thailand and a possible portent of further moves to seize power from the government.


More than 2 million people out of a total electorate of about 48 million were registered for Sunday’s advance voting, which was held for those unable to vote in the Feb. 2 general election.



A worker removed a desk a from a polling station in Bangkok after it was forced to shut its doors. Damir Sagolj/Reuters

“This is the day when Thailand and the rest of the world saw the true face of the protest movement,” said Sunai Phasuk, a researcher in Thailand with Human Rights Watch. “They are using thuggery to disrupt the voting process.”


Mr. Sunai said the protesters’ aim of fighting graft did not justify blocking people from voting.


“You cannot battle corruption by stopping democracy,” he said.


In a vivid illustration of the divisions in Thailand, citizens in the most populous regions of the country, the north and northeast, were able to vote unimpeded on Sunday. But in Bangkok, where the protest movement draws its strength among the affluent and middle class, all 50 polling stations had been shut by protesters before the normal 3 p.m. closing time.


The blocking of polling stations was carried out by bands of protesters, sometimes only numbering a few dozen people, who padlocked gates and intimidated election officials and voters.


Their ability to disrupt the electoral process underlined the weakness of the Thai government, which has been besieged by street demonstrations for the past two months. Protesters have shut down government offices and occupied major intersections in the city.


Although the government declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas last week, it has been reluctant to use force against protesters, who the government says are backed by powerful forces in Thai society. The military has been ambivalent in its support of the government, and the head of the army has not ruled out a coup. The military has overthrown a dozen governments in the country’s modern history.


Among those unable to vote on Sunday was Pruettha Jampathong, 30, a human resources manager at a Thai company.


“I consider myself a very tolerant person,” Mr. Pruettha said after being turned away from a polling station where protesters were blocking the entrance. “But this is very unfair. They violated my political rights.”



Protesters celebrated after they shut down a polling center in central Bangkok. Damir Sagolj/Reuters

He added, “An election is the only scientific way to prove who is the majority in the country.”


In some districts, would-be voters stood outside closed polling stations, chanting, “Election! Election!”


Dispassionate analysts say there are no angels in the power struggle between the governing party and its opponents. The main targets of the protests, Ms. Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister and billionaire tycoon, have led the most successful political movement in Thai history, one that has won the loyalty of millions of voters by introducing universal health care and making government offices more responsive and efficient. Protesters accuse them of an unhealthy dominance of business and politics and of raising the level of corruption.


The protesters are led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister and career politician, who during his time in power was embroiled in numerous scandals. The government says Mr. Suthep and his allies, the opposition Democrat Party, are leading a naked attempt to grab power because they cannot win elections.


Ongart Klampaiboon, the deputy leader of the Democrat Party, which is boycotting the election, referred to it Sunday as a “waste” and warned of further “violent confrontations” if the vote goes ahead as scheduled on Feb. 2.


Every other major political party in Thailand is contesting the election.


By blocking the election, protesters say they will create a power vacuum that will force the governing party to resign and allow for the people’s council to “reform” the country.


In addition to protesters, the government faces significant opposition from within government agencies, including the Election Commission, which it accuses of dragging its feet. The commission has repeatedly asked the government to postpone the voting and at the commission’s urging, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled Friday that it could be delayed if the commission and the government agreed on a new date, a decision that legal scholars say appears to contradict a mandate in the Constitution to hold the election within 60 days of Parliament’s dissolution.


Surapong Tovichakchaikul, a deputy prime minister, on Sunday accused the election commission of “playing tricks” and said the election would be held as scheduled.


He questioned why the commission had not called on security forces to guard the polling centers and ensure that voting went ahead.


Even if the election goes ahead, the new Parliament will not reach the required minimum number of members because protesters blocked the registration of candidates in many provinces in southern Thailand. More than two dozen by-elections will need to be held before Parliament can elect a new government.












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