Voters went to the polls in 89 per cent of Thailand’s 375 constituencies nationwide on Sunday, in an election marred by an opposition boycott and efforts by protesters to block the process.
There were no reports of violence Sunday, although a clash on Saturday between opposing groups in northern Bangkok left seven injured.
Election Commission secretary general Phuchang Nutrawong said the election had run into problems in 42 constituencies, mainly in the southern region, where voting was called off in nine provinces due to lack of ballots, insufficient election officials or protests at voting stations.
The nine provinces form the traditional support base of the opposition Democrat Party, which boycotted the election.
In Phuket province, protesters locked up the police headquarters Saturday, making it impossible for them to deliver ballots to voting booths on the island, witnesses said.
Voting was also called off in five out of 33 Bangkok constituencies.
Election officials cancelled voting in the capital’s Laksi district Saturday night after a shootout that left six injured and raised fears of more violence on election day.
The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), which has been staging anti-government protests in Bangkok since early November, urged people to avoid voting or to cast “no vote” ballots.
The movement has been calling for the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her cabinet to pave the way for a Senate—appointed interim government to make political reforms prior to any new elected government.
Sunday’s vote has turned into a litmus test for support of the electoral process, observers said.
“This election is not about voting in a new government, it is about voting out the protesters,” said Verapat Pariyawong, a Thai legal expert.
Voting went smoothly and peacefully in most Bangkok constituencies, where many voters expressed their support for the electoral process.
“Elected governments and appointed governments are not the same,” said Srisuda Monsing, after casting her vote at a polling station in eastern Bangkok.
“Anyone can appoint a government, but elected governments have to come from the people.” Thailand has a long history of appointed governments from coups, the last of which was in 2006 to topple former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire businessmen who introduced populist politics to the country’s electoral process.
Thaksin is Yingluck’s elder brother and the de facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party. He has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a two-year prison sentence for corruption.
“If people come out to vote and vote for the Pheu Thai Party, especially in Bangkok, then we have to accept the reality,” PDRC spokesman Akanat Promphan said. “That is the harsh truth.” But the outcome of the election is expected to be muddled by the cancellations in 42 constituencies, and previous problems with registering candidates and casting advance ballots last weekend.
The snap election faced opposition from the Election Commission, the government body responsible for carrying out the polls.
It argued that the election should have been postponed, because protesters prevented the registration of candidates in 28 constituencies, meaning the lower house will not reach its quorum of 95 per cent of the 500 seats needed to open a new parliament.
Yingluck insisted the polls proceed.