Thailand’s main opposition Democrat Party on Saturday announced it would boycott snap elections in the crisis-gripped kingdom, piling further pressure on the government as protesters prepared to ramp up rallies aimed at suspending democracy. Members of the kingdom’s oldest political party—who resigned as MPs en masse to join the demonstrations that have rocked Bangkok for weeks—voted against participating in the poll, according to Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
“The Democrats think the elections will not solve the country’s problems, lead to reform, or regain people’s faith in political parties,” he said in a press conference following the meeting, adding that the political system was a “failure”.
Embattled premier Yingluck Shinawatra, who called the February 2 elections in an effort to cool tensions, has insisted the polls will go ahead regardless of the Democrat decision.
But the move throws Democrat backing firmly behind protesters who are calling for democracy to be paused for an unelected “people’s council” to be installed to enact reforms before a future vote.
Demonstrators want to rid the country of Yingluck and the influence of her Dubai-based brother Thaksin—an ousted billionaire ex-premier who is despised by a coalition of southerners, the Bangkok middle classes and elite.
The Democrats previously boycotted elections in 2006, helping to create the political uncertainty which heralded a military coup that ousted Thaksin.
The latest boycott could lead to a similar situation, with polls “nullified” on technical grounds, said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a former Thai diplomat and associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan’s Kyoto University.
“Walking away from it, it’s just bad on the part of the Democrat Party. Especially if (the) international community is now watching the Thai situation so closely,” he said in comments ahead of the meeting.
-With AFP input via The Independent
