Thai General Election Corruption Meant Another Re-Election With Worst-Ever Cheating by Phairath Khampha 31 January 2001 Thailand's January 6, 2001 election was as corrupt as ever, despite the safeguards put in place in the new 1997 constitution. Electoral fraud was rife in all constituencies. It was so bad, that Thailand's Election Commission was forced to hold another round of elections with the hope that things would be carried out more honestly. This possibly was asking for too much, given the penchant for cheating in Thai culture. Election officials in Thailand ordered a second round of voting and Thai voters return to the ballot boxes in 62 constituencies where results from the January 6 polls were thrown out due to corruption. But even in the second round the corruption and cheating were as bad as ever. Thai politics is very innovative and full of intrigue as far as cheating and collusion are concerned. In the second round of elections there were, as expected, the usual blatant violations of the electoral laws, but some new disturbing trends arose. Hardly the stuff of which democracy is made. Commission picks January 29 for second round of voting The Election Commission scheduled the second round of the general election for Monday, January 29 and persuaded the government to make it an official holiday to encourage voters to go to the polls. The EC rescheduled the by-election from January 27 to January 29 due to concerns it might not have been able to complete the disqualification of MP candidates in time. Although the EC endorsed MP candidates on January 20, the Council of State took five days to consider the red cards after the commission submitted its investigation files on January 22. The EC publicly endorsed MPs from January 21 to 26. MPs who were given yellow cards were also notified during this time. MPs who were given red cards were be notified from January 26 to 28. Red-carded politicians were barred from any further political activity for five years. There was no absentee voting in the second round. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said he had accepted the EC's proposal to declare January 29 an official holiday. Twenty-three MP candidates on January 18 defended themselves against allegations of electoral fraud with the EC. There were eight Thai Rak Thai Party MPs, eight Democrat Party MPs, three Chat Pattana Party MPs, two New Aspiration Party MPs, one Chat Thai MP, and one Seritham Party MP. Meanwhile, Democrat Party deputy leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on the same day urged the EC not to rush and to use "careful consideration" in disqualifying MP candidates after the EC said it would complete the task by the 20th. Careful consideration means "be careful or it will hurt very, very much". This is Thai style--to threaten with physical harm. The concept of fair play is not at all understood--only cheating and dishonest practices. It is ingrained in the Thai culture. The EC should take at least 30 days to investigate electoral fraud allegations before endorsing MPs, he said. If the EC decides to endorse MP candidates soon, all investigations into complaints would be put on hold, he added. "The EC should use careful consideration and take a longer time for the investigation. It had earlier announced it would ensure a clean and fair election. It is not right to throw away hundreds of complaints just to rush the endorsement process," Abhisit said. EC commissioner Sawat Chotpanit, however, said the EC would not discard complaints that had not been investigated. He said the commission had decided to consider complaints that were submitted before January 6, so that it might endorse election results and avoid the risk of a political vacuum. The complaints that were submitted after January 6 were be considered after the by-election. Suwat said the EC had not yet ruled on which MP candidates would be disqualified, as the investigation was ongoing. Abhisit suggested that the EC set priorities, completing only the investigations into fraud charges against MPs who were likely be given red cards first, and considering those likely to be given yellow cards later. The EC's investigation office director Pol Lt Col Dom Wisitsora-at vouched for the quality of the EC investigation into electoral fraud even though it had a limited amount of time to its mandate. Thais return to polls Thai voters returned to the ballot boxes on January 29 in the 62 constituencies where the results from the January 6 polls were thrown out due to corruption. Election officials feared even more cheating this time, while the army and police provided heavy security. The Election Commission (EC) said politicians might take advantage of its tight deadline to certify all the results within a month of the national ballot. "Many dirty tricks have been used in this election," said EC commissioner Yuvarut Gamolvej. But he warned investigations into suspect candidates would continue even after the new parliament was convened. The EC drafted in 100,000 staff including military and police officers to help try to ensure fraud-free polls and to prevent unruly protests. More than half the 62 constituencies where winners were disqualified involved candidates from the Thai Rak Thai party, which appeared to have won a majority after the January 6. Coalition government Of the remaining 338 constituencies where votes had been certified, the party had secured at least 224 seats. The party's leader, in-coming Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had already unveiled plans for a two-party coalition government. He said a third party may be brought into the government at a later stage. Mr Thaksin said he expected his new cabinet to be up and running by mid-February. Election official 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. Possible ban Despite his clear majority, Mr Thaksin's own future was far from clear. He was indicted in December 2000 by the National Counter Corruption Commission for failing to declare some of his wealth and for tax evasion, a criminal offense for most Thais. If the ruling were to be upheld by the constitutional court he would face a five-year ban from politics. EC sees 'worst-ever' cheating Election law violations in the run-up to the second round of voting in 62 constituencies were the worst ever seen by the Election Commission, commissioner Yuwarat Kamolvej said. It appeared Yuwarat was not overstating the case as complaints and reports of vote-buying and other forms of electoral fraud poured in from many areas on the eve of polling. Yuwarat warned that anyone found to have been involved in poll fraud, intentionally or not, could face imprisonment for up to 15 years. He said the EC would do its best to prevent cheating with particular focus on curbing ballot irregularities. Genuine ballots will contain codes, he said. Yuwarat said that in Ubon Ratchathani flyers purporting to be from the EC had been distributed falsely claiming that a candidate in the province had been disqualified. He said an investigation was under way to establish who was behind the flyers, which contained the forged signature of the provincial EC chief. In Buri Ram vote-buying was reported on the nights of January 26 and 27 in many villages of the four constituencies where new votes will be held. Eligible voters were paid between 100 baht and 200 baht each and canvassers between 5,000 baht and 10,000 baht each as votes were bought. Some candidates' supporters openly bought votes at night and blocked the roads into villages in order to prevent rival camps from entering, witnesses said. In Kanchanaburi provincial EC chief Aree Ungjanil said that there had been attempts to break the electoral law in all of the four constituencies where revoting was to be held. She said local EC officials had been sent to suspected areas to gather evidence. In Nakhon Ratchasima deputy provincial governor Suwat Choksuwattanasakul said 62 local administrators and government officials had been ordered to move out of the province temporarily until voting was completed. They were accused of being biased towards certain candidates, he said. Nakhon Ratchasima election chief Paiboon Makkaviman said hundreds of military officials were assigned to help with vote-counting. Some 50 villagers from the Assembly of the Poor, led by assembly adviser Varin Atnak and Seritham candidate for Loei Constituency 2 Pinit Sithiho, gathered in front of the EC's headquarters the afternoon before the new voting day to demand the immediate transfer of the Loei governor and two senior police officers out of the province. The protesters accused them of bias. The protesters also tried to push their way into the EC office to meet the five election commissioners but were blocked by police. The commissioners were not in the office, but police Colonel Dome Visitsora-at, the EC's chief investigator, agreed to meet 10 representatives of the protesters to hear their complaints. In Chaiyaphum supporters of Chaiyuth Chankomol, a disqualified Thai Rak Thai candidate for Constituency 5, agreed to end their protest at the local EC office after Daeng Chankhampom, election head in the constituency, promised to resign to "take responsibility" for the politician's expulsion, provincial EC chief Udom Ekthammasut said. Daeng's decision was intended to reduce the pressure from Chaiyuth's supporters, he said. EC commissioner Sawat Chotepanit said the commission would not review its decision to disqualify Chaiyuth. Official Thai Election Result Due on February 2 but delay expected Thailand's Election Commission said it would ratify the final result of country's general election on February 2, paving the way for the new parliament to be convened the following Sunday. Election Commissioner Yuvarut Gamolvej told reporters that although a second re-vote would take place in one constituency, the EC would be able to meet the deadline to announce final election results within 30 days of the January 6 general election. "The Election Commission would certainly ratify all 500 members of parliament on February 2 and there was no need to postpone the first meeting of the lower house scheduled for February 4," Yuvarut told reporters. Yuvarut said one last re-vote would be held in the central province of Nakorn Nayok on February 1 as there was more cheating. Ballot boxes were found to have been mishandled. The outgoing government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai had set February 4 as the date for the first meeting of the new parliament, which King Bhumibol Adulyadej would preside over. Wissanu Krea-ngam, secretary-general to the cabinet, said a new cabinet could be formed by mid-February and could announce its policies to parliament by the end of February. However, it was possible the Election Commission would not be able to meet the announce official results of the Jan 29 re-election in 62 constituencies on schedule on February 1, a senior EC official said. EC Commissioner Gothom Arya said he would inform the commission of the likely delay before a new deadline could be set. The EC had received reports of irregularities in the voting and counting processes in several constituencies in the aftermath of the January 29 re-election. Results reveal conspiracy to snare seats The results of the second round of voting pointed to a loose conspiracy between the Thai Rak Thai and New Aspiration (NAP) parties, with candidates from the two camps colluding to ensure victory of one of their parties in at least two constituencies. And Thaksin had brought the NAP into its fold to form a coalition government. So, it was obviously the usual Thai dishonesty. Thai political analysts saw the conspiracy, limited as it was, as cause for alarm, saying ballots were not cast according to the free will of voters but at the direction of candidates and their canvassers. In Narathiwat's Constituency 2, for example, low-profile Thai Rak Thai candidate Atthaphol Mama defeated popular Democrat Surachet Wae-asae with the strong endorsement of disqualified NAP candidate Suthiphan Sririkanont. Suthiphan and NAP secretary-general Wan Muhammad Noor Matha openly campaigned on Atthaphol's behalf. Suthiphan narrowly beat Surachet in the January 6 election, but the results were invalidated after the Election Commission found him to have cheated. He was banned from running on January 29. Suthiphan said he campaigned on Atthaphol's behalf because the latter is a newcomer to politics and not a native of Narathiwat. Atthaphol, 26, a graduate in agricultural science from Rajamangala Institute, hails from Nakhon Si Thammarat and had no prior experience in campaigning. With the NAP's blessing, Thai Rak Thai was able to win its first House of Representatives seat from a southern constituency. Thai Rak Thai returned the favour in Surin's Constituency 2. After being red-carded for electoral violations and banned from politics because of his own corrupt activities, the Thai Rak Thai's Theerachai Tiewcharoensopha threw his support behind NAP candidate Prapas Veerasathien, helping the third-place candidate from the first round secure a victory in the second round. Prapas argued that his upset victory was due to the popularity of the Thai Rak Thai-NAP alliance, not the direct help from Theerachai. For some candidates, however, the two-party alliance remained secondary to personal animosities. The Thai Rak Thai's Seksith Winiyompong, from Roi Et's Constituency 2, transferred his support to Thai Motherland candidate Boonterm Jantrawat rather than to the NAP candidate. Boonterm pulled off a miraculous victory in the second round, despite receiving a dismal 231 votes in the first round, in which he finished last out of 11 candidates. Seksith claimed he was banned from the race because of a complaint filed by the NAP candidate. A similar story played out in Nakhon Phanom's Constituency 2. Red-carded corrupt NAP candidate Paijit Srivorakhan refused to support the Thai Rak Thai's Surajit Phollok, campaigning instead for Rassadorn candidate Chaiwat Kulsakwimol. Paijit saw to it that Chaiwat won the second round, in apparent retaliation against Surajit, whom he believed had brought up the charges of electoral violations resulting in his dismissal after the initial vote. The latest poll trick: voting by proxy Thai politics is very innovative and full of intrigue as far as cheating and collusion are concerned. In the second round of elections on January 29, there were, as expected, the usual blatant violations of the electoral laws, but some new disturbing trends arose. In Nakhon Nayok, there had to be a third round of polling. Given the experience of the corrupt Senate elections, that was not surprising. However, something different occurred in Narathiwat and Roi Et that did not augur well for Thailand's determined efforts to complete the transistion to something more akin to a real democracy. In the general election on January 6, Suthiphan Sririkanont of the New Aspiration Party, standing in Narathiwat's Constituency 2, was disqualified after having won the most votes. In the build-up to Monday's re-run, he threw the full weight of his electoral machinery behind his round one rival, Thai Rak Thai candidate Atthaphol Mama, in order to block the chances of the other parties. This unusual collusion, unashamedly touted by Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's NAP, came about after NAP agreed to help TRT leader Thaksin Shinawatra form the next government. For Boonterm Chantawat of the Thai Motherland Party, round two ended in a complete reversal of form in Roi Et. In the general election, he could rustle up only 244 votes. But with the help of TRT's disqualified candidate Seksit Wainiyompong and his supporters, he romped away with the constituency on Monday with an astonishing and suspicious 19,271. Perhaps the most unusual, even sad, case involved the influential and well-connected Saran Saraket of Thai Rak Thai in Uttaradit's constituency two. Though disqualified, voters on January 29 took advantage of the Electoral Commission using the old ballot papers to swing 20,000 votes his way. It was, he said, a vindication by the electorate that he was innocent and should not have been disqualified. But serious moral, if not legal, questions arose here because he encouraged voters to pick him in the second round. These matters need to be urgently screened by Thailand's EC as they revealed more weaknesses in the Thai democratic electoral system, especially at the provincial and district levels where the patronage system remained robust. Those connected to particular "influential personalities" do everything in their power to get themselves elected, and though it is the nature of politicians to switch loyalties wherever and whenever it is convenient or expedient, where are the boundaries to be drawn? There are already certain rules in force, yet as usual, Thailand's politicians quickly spotted the cracks. Bad luck for the people, though, who should be able to enjoy a better standard of living without having to support the crooks along the way. There should be no leniency for those politicians who conspired to thwart straightforward democratic aspirations. After all, a free vote is one that is clean and unencumbered. In the cases of Roi Et and Narathiwat, the EC had to examine them carefully and proscribe measures to prevent a recurrence. For Boonterm, his record had been tainted. The Thai Motherland Party should be ashamed of its only successful candidate. A yellow card should be given to candidates who collaborate or otherwise work to deny the system its rightful outcome, otherwise the next round of voting would be similarly tainted. The purpose of new rounds of voting is to weed out the bad guys and in the process encourage honest candidates to come forward. It is not intended to allow disqualified candidates to continue to exert influence. For in the end, what Thailand will have is proxy voting that allows surrogate candidates to take their place in parliament. Hardly the stuff of which democracy is made.