BANGKOK (AP): Candidates in Thailand’s first general election since the military seized power in 2014 began registering Monday, as supporters waved banners and chanted slogans in political activity that until recently was illegal. Hundreds of candidates from dozens of parties crammed into an indoor stadium to officially enter the race and draw lots for the numbers that will go alongside their names on the ballot papers for the March 24 election.
Enthusiasm for a return to democracy is high, but is tempered with an awareness that new election rules handicap the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which has easily won every national election since 2001. The Thaksin-associated Pheu Thai Party’s main challenger is expected to be the Palang Pracharat Party, widely considered a proxy for the military.
“Yes, we will be among the parties who get the most votes,” said Palang Pracharat’s secretary-general, Sontirat Sontijirawong. Following the election, Palang Pracharat is expected to nominate the head of the current military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, to be the next prime minister. Prayuth, one of three candidates the party has proposed, was army commander when he led the 2014 coup that ousted an elected government formed by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
Pheu Thai’s top pick for prime minister urged the state Election Commission to keep a close watch on the polls. “The people have been waiting for this election for eight years,” said Sudarat Keyuraphan, referring to the last time an election installed a government.
