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2014 Thai general election
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2014 Thai general election
Early general elections were held in Thailand on 2 February 2014 after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra requested King Bhumibol Adulyadej for the dissolution of parliament more than a year early owing to Thailand's political crisis. Voters elected a new House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Assembly. However, voting was disrupted in 69 of 375 constituencies by the political opposition that had called for a boycott. This made a voting re-run in several constituencies necessary, depending on the security situation in the affected districts and the first voting re-run date was set for 2 March. Results were expected to be announced after voting had taken place in all parts of the country. On 21 March 2014, the Constitutional Court invalidated the elections on grounds that they were not completed within one day throughout the country.
After the ruling Pheu Thai Party attempted to pass an amnesty bill, the opposition accused them of seeking to bring back former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is in self-imposed exile following his conviction for abuse of power. Protests then occurred, sometimes violent, which included demands for the government to resign and the Shinawatra family to quit Thai politics. Following a mass resignation of opposition MPs, on 9 December Yingluck said in a televised address that she had asked the King to dissolve parliament in order to allow the Thai people to resolve the crisis. She said: "At this stage, when there are many people opposed to the government from many groups, the best way is to give back the power to the Thai people and hold an election, so the Thai people will decide." However, anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said that the protests would continue till their demands are met, including the formation of an unelected "people's council", as "we have not yet reached our goal. The dissolving of parliament is not our aim." Yingluck also said that she would not resign ahead of the election.
According to the Election Commission, the organization of this election cost 3.8 billion baht, while the previous election in 2011 cost 3.4 billion baht. The rise of the expenses is due to the increase of the constituencies from 95,000 to 100,000. The Election Commission also said that there were 48 million eligible voters.
The opposition party, Democrat Party, decided to boycott the election. In response, Yingluck said the election would go ahead as planned.
On 26 December the Election Commission held a session at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok in which parties participating in the election were allocated their positions on the ballot papers for the national election of members from party lists. A crowd of "several thousand" protesters from a group called Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand attempted to disrupt the registration process by forcing their way into the stadium. A truck was driven at the gates in an attempt to break them down. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon. The violence escalated with firearms being used on both sides. A police Sergeant-Major was shot in the chest and died in hospital. A protester was wounded and later died in hospital. Despite this attempt at disruption, the registration of candidates went ahead, although Election Commission staff had to be evacuated by helicopter when the process was concluded.
Following these events, the president of the Election Commission, Supachai Somcharoen, called for the election to be postponed.[why?] "It is not hard to predict that the election will not be smooth, fair and transparent under the current circumstances." In response, Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanchana said: "There is no clause in the charter or any other law which authorizes the government to postpone the election date." The Bangkok Post suggested that the Election Commissioners might resign if the government did not postpone the election, or they might postpone it on their own authority, despite lacking legal authority to do so.
In southern Thailand demonstrators prevented candidate registration in 28 constituencies for four successive days. By 31 December, no candidate registrations had taken place in the six southern provinces of Chumpon, Krabi, Phattalung, Songkhla, Surat Thani and Trang. Registration was also partly prevented[vague] in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phuket provinces. All these areas are strongholds of the Democrat Party. Under the Thai Constitution, the House of Representatives cannot sit unless the Election Commission has certified the election of a member for at least 95% of the 375 constituencies. If no candidates are registered for the southern provinces, this requirement will not be met and the new House of Representatives will be unable to meet. The Pheu Thai Party has requested the Election Commission to extend the deadline for candidate registration.[citation needed] The Asian Wall Street Journal suggested that the opposition was "openly begging for another military coup." On 7 January, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) announced that it would charge 308 members of the outgoing House of Representatives and Senate with "misconduct." The basis of the charge is that these members voted for legislation to change the Senate from a partly elected to a fully elected chamber. The Constitutional Court ruled that this legislation violated section 68 of the 2007 Constitution. Section 68 prohibits an attempt to undermine the "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State" or to acquire the administrative power by constitutional means, and empowers the Constitutional Court to stop such attempt, to dissolve any political party guilty of it and to disfranchise the executives of the dissolved party for five years. The NACC claimed that since the legislation was found to be unconstitutional, those who voted for it were guilty of misconduct.
Due to violence and obstruction from the protests, the Election Commission said on 11 January that it would either order the adjournment of the election or would request the government to do so. Supachai Somcharoen said the reason for doing so was the EC's failure to register candidates in the 28 southern constituencies. He also suggested that in the 22 constituencies in which only one candidate had registered, voter turnout might not reach the required minimum of 20%. He added that he feared further political violence.[citation needed] However, Prime Minister Yingluck argued that neither the government nor the commission is empowered to cancel or adjourn an election. Deputy Prime Minister Thepkanchana added that if the government adjourned the election, for any reason, beyond the 60-day legal timeframe, it could be taken to court for violating the constitution.
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2014 Thai general election
Early general elections were held in Thailand on 2 February 2014 after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra requested King Bhumibol Adulyadej for the dissolution of parliament more than a year early owing to Thailand's political crisis. Voters elected a new House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Assembly. However, voting was disrupted in 69 of 375 constituencies by the political opposition that had called for a boycott. This made a voting re-run in several constituencies necessary, depending on the security situation in the affected districts and the first voting re-run date was set for 2 March. Results were expected to be announced after voting had taken place in all parts of the country. On 21 March 2014, the Constitutional Court invalidated the elections on grounds that they were not completed within one day throughout the country.
After the ruling Pheu Thai Party attempted to pass an amnesty bill, the opposition accused them of seeking to bring back former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is in self-imposed exile following his conviction for abuse of power. Protests then occurred, sometimes violent, which included demands for the government to resign and the Shinawatra family to quit Thai politics. Following a mass resignation of opposition MPs, on 9 December Yingluck said in a televised address that she had asked the King to dissolve parliament in order to allow the Thai people to resolve the crisis. She said: "At this stage, when there are many people opposed to the government from many groups, the best way is to give back the power to the Thai people and hold an election, so the Thai people will decide." However, anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said that the protests would continue till their demands are met, including the formation of an unelected "people's council", as "we have not yet reached our goal. The dissolving of parliament is not our aim." Yingluck also said that she would not resign ahead of the election.
According to the Election Commission, the organization of this election cost 3.8 billion baht, while the previous election in 2011 cost 3.4 billion baht. The rise of the expenses is due to the increase of the constituencies from 95,000 to 100,000. The Election Commission also said that there were 48 million eligible voters.
The opposition party, Democrat Party, decided to boycott the election. In response, Yingluck said the election would go ahead as planned.
On 26 December the Election Commission held a session at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok in which parties participating in the election were allocated their positions on the ballot papers for the national election of members from party lists. A crowd of "several thousand" protesters from a group called Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand attempted to disrupt the registration process by forcing their way into the stadium. A truck was driven at the gates in an attempt to break them down. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon. The violence escalated with firearms being used on both sides. A police Sergeant-Major was shot in the chest and died in hospital. A protester was wounded and later died in hospital. Despite this attempt at disruption, the registration of candidates went ahead, although Election Commission staff had to be evacuated by helicopter when the process was concluded.
Following these events, the president of the Election Commission, Supachai Somcharoen, called for the election to be postponed.[why?] "It is not hard to predict that the election will not be smooth, fair and transparent under the current circumstances." In response, Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanchana said: "There is no clause in the charter or any other law which authorizes the government to postpone the election date." The Bangkok Post suggested that the Election Commissioners might resign if the government did not postpone the election, or they might postpone it on their own authority, despite lacking legal authority to do so.
In southern Thailand demonstrators prevented candidate registration in 28 constituencies for four successive days. By 31 December, no candidate registrations had taken place in the six southern provinces of Chumpon, Krabi, Phattalung, Songkhla, Surat Thani and Trang. Registration was also partly prevented[vague] in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phuket provinces. All these areas are strongholds of the Democrat Party. Under the Thai Constitution, the House of Representatives cannot sit unless the Election Commission has certified the election of a member for at least 95% of the 375 constituencies. If no candidates are registered for the southern provinces, this requirement will not be met and the new House of Representatives will be unable to meet. The Pheu Thai Party has requested the Election Commission to extend the deadline for candidate registration.[citation needed] The Asian Wall Street Journal suggested that the opposition was "openly begging for another military coup." On 7 January, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) announced that it would charge 308 members of the outgoing House of Representatives and Senate with "misconduct." The basis of the charge is that these members voted for legislation to change the Senate from a partly elected to a fully elected chamber. The Constitutional Court ruled that this legislation violated section 68 of the 2007 Constitution. Section 68 prohibits an attempt to undermine the "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State" or to acquire the administrative power by constitutional means, and empowers the Constitutional Court to stop such attempt, to dissolve any political party guilty of it and to disfranchise the executives of the dissolved party for five years. The NACC claimed that since the legislation was found to be unconstitutional, those who voted for it were guilty of misconduct.
Due to violence and obstruction from the protests, the Election Commission said on 11 January that it would either order the adjournment of the election or would request the government to do so. Supachai Somcharoen said the reason for doing so was the EC's failure to register candidates in the 28 southern constituencies. He also suggested that in the 22 constituencies in which only one candidate had registered, voter turnout might not reach the required minimum of 20%. He added that he feared further political violence.[citation needed] However, Prime Minister Yingluck argued that neither the government nor the commission is empowered to cancel or adjourn an election. Deputy Prime Minister Thepkanchana added that if the government adjourned the election, for any reason, beyond the 60-day legal timeframe, it could be taken to court for violating the constitution.