Thais vote on military-drafted charter
THAILAND: Thais voted on Sunday in a referendum on a
military-drafted constitution analysts say is aimed at preventing a
repeat of the Thaksin Shinawatra era, a single party government led by a
charismatic politician.
Despite multiple reservations, Thais are expected to approve the
draft which Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, appointed after a
bloodless coup ousted the twice-elected Thaksin last year, promises will
lead to a general election by the end of the year.
“This is a critical transition for Thailand, so I would like to ask
people to go out and vote,” Surayud said on television ahead of the
vote.
The government decreed there be no opinion polls ahead of the vote
and Surayud and the military council at his back are clearly nervous
about a low turn-out in a poll Thaksin has dubbed “fruit of the
poisonous tree” from his exile in London.
Although approval needs only a simple majority, a low turn out would
be a serious embarrassment for the government and be seen as an
endorsement of Thaksin, still hugely popular in the countryside which
swept him to successive election victories.
But a massive government campaign for the draft, reinforced by
400,000 military personnel to persuade people to vote for it, and the
promise of elections to a parliament which could amend it, are likely to
see it through.
Bangkok, Sunday, Reuters
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