Royal Decree sets Oct 15 election date

By David Ogan

22 July 2006

His Majesty the King has signed the Royal Decree setting October 15 as the next general election date, but with the instruction the new poll must be free and fair, it emerged yesterday.

While royal endorsement of the election date will be welcomed by caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party, analysts claimed there were still several factors that could impede a comprehensive resolution of the political crisis.

With a firm election date in place, attention will once again be focused on the three remaining Election Commission (EC) members, who are accused of favoring TRT.

As the news broke that the general election date had been given royal approval, the Central Administrative Court yesterday consented to investigate allegations of illegitimacy against the commissioners.

Jointly addressing the press yesterday, government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee and Cabinet Secretary-General Rongpol Charoenphan jointly announced that His Majesty, before undergoing spinal surgery at Siriraj Hospital on Thursday, had endorsed the Royal Decree to hold a general election in October – as proposed by the caretaker government in May.

Surapong added that the Royal Decree was published in the Royal Gazette yesterday and that it would take effect on August 24.

Rongpol said His Majesty had conveyed a message to Thaksin when endorsing the decree, delivered by his principal private secretary.

“The King approved the Royal Decree calling for the new election in the hope that it would bring peace to the country as quickly as possible,” said Rongpol. “The King also wants the new election to be fair and to run smoothly.”

Top TRT executives were quick to praise the royal endorsement of the election date, which they said would resolve the political crisis that has rumbled on since Thaksin dissolved Parliament in February in response to mounting calls to step down.

“The people want an election. It will pave the way for a permanent government that can bring about economic and social stability,” said Suriya Jungrungreangkit, the deputy prime minister.

“All sides must accept the Royal Decree, which is the best solution to the current political crisis. Democracy gives people the power to decide.”

Former opposition parties that boycotted the April 2 general election immediately announced their compliance with the Royal Decree. But they continued to be vocal in their criticism of the EC “Everyone is worried about the EC because if the current commissioners are responsible for organizing the election, then problems may continue to persist after the election,” Abhisit said.

Deputy Chat Thai leader Somsak Prissanananthakul agreed that the current EC lineup could create problems.

However, he refused to clarify whether the party wanted the whole commission to be replaced, or whether it just wanted the two vacant EC seats to be filled.

However, TRT immediately called on the Supreme Court to begin the process of finding two replacement commissioners to fill the empty seats following the death of one commissioner and the resignation of the other in May.

Thaksin said the current EC commissioners – Pol Gen Wasana Permlarp, Prinya Nakchudtree and Virachai Naewboonnien – are perfectly capable of overseeing the new election and that efforts to fill the empty seats must be expedited.

“I hope relevant organizations will rapidly appoint two new EC commissioners in time. It is now time for reconciliation on all sides,” Thaksin said.

“I think the caretaker government is open to dialogue with all sides, in compliance with His Majesty’s wishes.”

On Thursday, Chat Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa agreed to meet Thaksin to resolve political differences – a move analysts say suggests it intends to form a coalition with TRT in the next government.

Yesterday, the EC announced that party-list and constituency candidates may register to contest the election from September 5 to 7 and from September 8 to 12 respectively.

Despite announcing on the day he dissolved Parliament that he would not lead the next government, the government spokesman said Thaksin will be the number one party-list candidate in the next election.

Surat Horachaikul, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said it was unprecedented for His Majesty to give instructions when endorsing a Royal Decree.

“From what I can remember, His Majesty the King has never attached any remarks to Royal Decrees, or any other legislation,” Surat said.

“However, it clearly shows that the King believes strongly in democracy.”

Surat acknowledged that the TRT party appears to have the advantage over its political opponents.

“With the election in place, public support for PAD [People’s Alliance for Democracy] will diminish greatly,” he said.

However, Surat pointed out that now that the election date had been set, the way was clear for the Constitutional Court to consider the dissolution cases against both the TRT and Democrat parties for election fraud in the failed April 2 poll.

Thai Day

Election decree sends SET soaring 2.5%

By Suzanne Nam

22 July 2006

Yesterday’s announcement that His Majesty the King had signed a royal decree for elections on October 15 gave a green light to investors waiting for some good news on the political front and sent the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index up 2.5 percent during afternoon trading. However, analysts said the good feeling may not last.

The SET closed at 685.71 yesterday, up 16.75 points from the previous day, which also saw a gain of 8.85 points, or 1.34 percent, on news that inflationary pressure in the United States was easing.

The recent gains have resulted in the SET rising at a faster speed than investors had seen for weeks, breaking through the so-called psychological barrier of 680 points.

But while some analysts have suggested that this could mean the SET index will break 700 in coming weeks, others remain cautious, citing continued political uncertainty as well as a dearth of international investors as reasons the market may not continue its rise next week.

Most of the buying yesterday afternoon, according to analysts, was from local retail investors who had been wanting to put their money back into the market but had been waiting for positive signs first.

Although the burst of trading saw the SET index rise by more than two percent, analysts said the gains may not last through the middle of next week, depending on whether the country sees more indications of political or economic uncertainty.

“This was impulse buying… there will be a lot of reevaluation over the weekend,” said Amarit Sukhavanij, deputy managing director of Kasikorn Securities.

Amarit also said that most of the money flowing into the SET yesterday was not foreign, meaning that large, institutional investors may not be regaining confidence as quickly as retail traders.

The announcement that His Majesty signed the decree enabling elections to be held on October 15, reportedly before he underwent surgery, has finally put to an end months of uncertainty over whether Thailand will have a functioning government in the foreseeable future.

On February 24, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dissolved parliament and called a snap election in response to demonstrations demanding his resignation.

However, the election, held on April 2, was subsequently annulled on the grounds of widespread irregularities and the country has since been without a parliament.

Thai Day