Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake: Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake

Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake: Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake: "Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake : Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy c..."

Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake

Accept Election Winners - for Thailand's sake: Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales. Thailand’s peaceful elections and the promise by Abhisit Vejjajiva Abhisit, the outgoing prime minister, to form a “constructive” opposition are hopeful signals in a country with a troubled democratic record, but the new administration faces challenges if it is to put an end to debilitating political confrontation.Yingluck Shinawatra is expected to become Thailand’s first female leader after the early count showed her Puea Thai party winning an overall majority, but the 44-year-old former businesswoman is politically untested.Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales Her greatest political asset is her relationship to her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister who commands the loyalty of millions of Thais despite having been removed in a coup in 2006.
Yet he is also her greatest liability as he inspires a visceral hatred among the Thai establishment, including powerful forces in Bangkok’s palaces, barracks and bureaucracy.Those forces combined to bring down the last pro-Thaksin administration in 2008 through a combination of protests and court cases. Unless Ms Yingluck can persuade them not to undermine her administration, Thailand is unlikely to be able to break out of the political deadlock that has left it largely rudderless since the 2006 coup.“This is the interesting bit: how the so-called establishment will receive the result,” said Sriyan Pietersz, managing director of JPMorgan in Bangkok.Crucial will be how fast the new government moves on one of its campaign promises: the pledge to investigate an amnesty that would allow Mr Thaksin to return, a move that is guaranteed to anger Ms Yingluck’s opponents.Coup rumours are the stock in trade of Thai politics and the military is being watched carefully. Most observers think the army will be wary of acting openly against such a convincing result, but the establishment has other weapons in its armoury.Many people fear a judicial assault either on the party or on individual members. Under Thai law, political parties can be dissolved and all their officeholders disqualified from politics for five years if any are found guilty of electoral fraud. Two pro-Thaksin parties have been dissolved under this legislation.But Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies, says the vote sends a clear message to those who may be tempted to use the courts to alter the outcome of the election.“It is a big verdict for us as a country,” says Mr Thitinan. “The votes that went to Puea Thai are not just about Thaksin, they are about the intervention and distortions of the last five years. If people had liked what was going on, they wouldn’t have voted for Puea Thai.”The vote is also evidence of a tectonic shift in Thai politics away from traditional power barons towards a more policy-based debate. “The electorate has become more connected to the political system than ever. The parties that cater to the demands of the electorate win elections,” said Mr Thitinan.And voters will make governments pay for unfulfilled promises. “In the past two years, the government didn’t pay much attention to the poor, they never asked what we wanted,” said Thamolwan Jamjaeng, who was celebrating outside Puea Thai headquarters on Sunday evening.However, those higher expectations pose a challenge for an administration that has promised a tablet computer for every school child and a solution to the country’s drugs problems in a year.“Life will get better, the new government will improve everything,” said Paiwan Thongsa-ard, a chicken vendor watching the vote count on Sunday.
But if Ms Paiwan is disappointed, she is likely to show it the next time she votes.