New Thai Government Unveiled
by Phairath Khampha
31 January 2001
The in-coming Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, unveiled plans for a two-party coalition government. Mr Thaksin said a deal had been reached with the smaller New Aspiration Party. Mr Thaksin finalised his coalition on January 31 to three parties, after unofficial results from re-votes in fraud-tainted constituencies indicated his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party might not secure an overall majority. The telecoms tycoon invited the small Chart Thai (Thai Nation) party - led by former Prime Minister Banharn Silpaarcha - to join his coalition. Banharn is the godfather of Suphanburi province, and an extremely corrupt kingmaker.
 Thaksin's future in doubt |
The announcement came weeks after the 6 January election, in which Mr Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party (Thais Love Thais) won a landslide victory. But widespread corruption in the electoral process led to a delay in the final vote tally, forcing the telecoms tycoon to suspend drawing up his coalition. Mr Thaksin said he expected his new cabinet to be up and running by mid-February. Re-votes Mr Thaksin said the coalition would have a clear majority in the 500-member House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament. As of the third week in January, Thai Rak Thai had at least 224 seats - but that figure was expected to change when fresh polls were held in constituencies where a re-vote was ordered because of the corrupt electoral practices carried out there. The New Aspiration party held 27 seats. |
The Election Commission threw out the results of 62 constituencies - more than half involving Thak Rak Thai candidates - on January 23 because of cheating and voting irregularities. The tainted constituencies had to hold re-elections on January 29.
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Election commissioner Sawasdi Chotipanich said most of the protests that erupted after the election were organised by villagers who had lost bets on the results and were hoping for a re-vote. Red cards The Thai Rak Thai party was hit hard by the re-votes, with 32 wins annulled by the Commission. Five of its candidates received "red cards" for serious breaches of election rules, barring them from standing in the re-runs. The remaining 27 candidates received "yellow card" warnings, which allowed them to contest the seats again. But Thai Rak Thai spokesman Suranand Vejjajiva said they were not troubled by the setback. |
"We expect to win all the re-elections in seats where we were disqualified, except the five where Thai Rak Thai received red cards," he added.
Coalition enlarged
Mr Thaksin finalised his coalition on January 31 to three parties, after unofficial results from re-votes in fraud-tainted constituencies indicated his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party might not secure an overall majority. The telecoms tycoon invited the small Chart Thai (Thai Nation) party - led by former Prime Minister Banharn Silpaarcha - to join his coalition.
The three parties would control more than 320 seats in the 500-seat parliament. Re-votes were held on January 29 in 62 constituencies due to corruption and of vote-buying - most of which involved Thai Rak Thai candidates.
Thai Rak Thai was projected to win only 24 seats in this round, giving the party 248 seats - not an absolute majority.
Mr Thaksin promised his cabinet would not be a disappointment, but added that the public may have to wait for a perfect "A-grade" government.
"The ministers may not be 100% Grade A, but they are at least 80% Grade A," he said.
Mr Thaksin's own political future remained uncertain after he was indicted in December by the anti-corruption body for failing to declare his wealth and other acts of corruption.
Possible ban
Despite an apparent majority, Mr Thaksin's own future was far from clear. He was indicted in December by the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) for failing to declare some of his wealth and for tax evasion, hence a corrupt criminal would stand to become the prime minister of Thailand. If the ruling were to be upheld by the constitutional court - which could take place months away - he would face a five-year ban from politics.