PAD's call for election boycott won't work

24 Mar, 2011
Source: Bangkok Post

The call by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for voters to boycott the general election is likely to fall on deaf ears, just as its self-righteous demand for the forced occupation of disputed territory on the Cambodian border has attracted little public support.

"Say No to the Election” is the latest mantra being preached by Sondhi Limthongkul, leader of the yellow-shirt PAD movement.

While accusing all political parties of being self-serving, greedy for money and power, Sondhi, in his address to yellow-shirt protesters on Ratchadamnoen Avenue on Wednesday night, urged people to boycott the coming election by casting a “no vote” on the ballot paper.

He also demanded that the New Politics Party, an offshoot of the PAD, not run any candidates in the polls -- a clear threat that anyone who wants to join the electoral race can do so, but not under the party’s banner.

An election boycott has no place in a functioning democracy, but it was used once by the Democrat Party in the 2006 general election called by the Thaksin Shinwatra government. The Democrat party argued that democracy was not functioning and that a boycott should been seen as a tactic to force a constitutional crisis which would eventually put an end to the political impasse at the time.

Instead, there was a military coup on Sept 19 of the same year that toppled the Thaksin government.

Sondhi’s appeal for an election boycott will not attract many supporters, just as the ongoing protest by the PAD against the government’s "mishandling" of the border conflict with Cambodia has attracted only hundreds, or a few thousand at most, supporters.

Many former supporters of the PAD have simply turned their back on the movement’s leaders because of their extreme hardline policies or political thoughts and their refusal to accept differing opinions.

Sondhi’s alternative to a democratically elected government is a royally appointed government comprising people with impeccable track records. This is only possible through military intervention, or a coup, to overthrow the Abhisit government or force its resignation. This outlandish idea, too, will only find support among the hardcore yellow-shirt people.

It may be true that the next election will not hold out much for the future hopes of the country and the Thai people, because it will be the same parties and some old politicians who will vie to get back into the parliament.

The winner will be either the Democrat or the Puea Thai party and if neither of them get enough votes to form a single-party government it will be another coalition -- again comprising mostly the same faces, especially if the Democrats win.

Also, the colour-coded political divide will remain intact, so long as there is no reconciliation between all the rival political groupings, not just the Democrat and Puea Thai parties.

Another coup would only further widen the polarisation and set the country back many years. How could Thailand stand up in pride and with dignity in a civilized global community?

Although without much hope, the democratic process, badly flawed though it may be, remains the best option under the present circumstances. And that means participation by all stakeholders in the comiing election.