PPP set to form government
It seems that there's no stopping Samak's PPP. They won the election (though perhaps not 'fair and square'). Now, every other Thai political party, with the sole and noble exception of the Democrats, has joined in a PPP coalition. The final coalition partners, Puea Paendin and Chart Thai, announced their membership yesterday, after more than two weeks of negotiations; they had used the mourning period following the death of Princess Galyani to buy themselves more time.
The Thai Supreme Court yesterday dismissed six cases against the PPP and the Election Commission. The New Aspiraion Party had alleged that the EC was not authorised to organise absentee ballots and advance voting before last year's election. Democrat candidate Chaiwat Sinsuwong claimed that the PPP was not legally allowed to contest the election, as it is a TRT nominee, Samak is a Thaksin proxy, and PPP candidates distributed Thaksin VCDs. All of these complaints have been dismissed by the Supreme Court. (The Democrats had actually asked Chaiwat to withdraw his allegations, though he has now resigned from the party.)
Even the CNS couldn't stop the PPP winning. Their anti-PPP smear campaign was unsuccessful after details of it were leaked to the public last year.
The last obstacle was Yongyuth Tiyaphairat, one of the PPP's deputy leaders. He was among many PPP candidates accused of vote-buying, and he has been under EC investigation. The EC must endorse at least 95% of MPs before Monday, so that a new parliamentary term can begin. Thus, the EC were under pressure to complete their vote-buying investigations as soon as possible. Fearing demonstrations from PPP supporters, the EC delegated the Yongyuth investigation to a sub-committee. Then, when Yongyuth was invited to view the evidence against him (an incriminating VCD), he missed the appointment - what a great delaying tactic! Anyway, Yongyuth has now received EC endorsement. Indeed, the EC rushed to endorse some twenty-nine candidates yesterday, in order to meet the deadline. Previously, candidates had been endorsed in dribs and drabs, averaging three per day. So just how thorough were the investigations into these final twenty-nine, including Yongyuth?
The Prime Minister will be chosen on Friday, and, unless there is some last-minute miracle, it seems that it will be Samak.
The Thai Supreme Court yesterday dismissed six cases against the PPP and the Election Commission. The New Aspiraion Party had alleged that the EC was not authorised to organise absentee ballots and advance voting before last year's election. Democrat candidate Chaiwat Sinsuwong claimed that the PPP was not legally allowed to contest the election, as it is a TRT nominee, Samak is a Thaksin proxy, and PPP candidates distributed Thaksin VCDs. All of these complaints have been dismissed by the Supreme Court. (The Democrats had actually asked Chaiwat to withdraw his allegations, though he has now resigned from the party.)
Even the CNS couldn't stop the PPP winning. Their anti-PPP smear campaign was unsuccessful after details of it were leaked to the public last year.
The last obstacle was Yongyuth Tiyaphairat, one of the PPP's deputy leaders. He was among many PPP candidates accused of vote-buying, and he has been under EC investigation. The EC must endorse at least 95% of MPs before Monday, so that a new parliamentary term can begin. Thus, the EC were under pressure to complete their vote-buying investigations as soon as possible. Fearing demonstrations from PPP supporters, the EC delegated the Yongyuth investigation to a sub-committee. Then, when Yongyuth was invited to view the evidence against him (an incriminating VCD), he missed the appointment - what a great delaying tactic! Anyway, Yongyuth has now received EC endorsement. Indeed, the EC rushed to endorse some twenty-nine candidates yesterday, in order to meet the deadline. Previously, candidates had been endorsed in dribs and drabs, averaging three per day. So just how thorough were the investigations into these final twenty-nine, including Yongyuth?
The Prime Minister will be chosen on Friday, and, unless there is some last-minute miracle, it seems that it will be Samak.
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