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BANGKOK, April 3 (Xinhua)-- The earlier return of
Sunday's parliamentary election has showed that abstentions surpassed votes for
Thai Rak Thai party led by Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in most
areas of the capital while the party remains popular in the north and northeast
region.
After the all-night ballot-counting, the election
results were still unclear and the final picture were not expected until late
Monday.
The result showed that Thaksin was still getting
solid support in Thailand's north and northeast, the traditional stronghold for
his party, which is said enough for clinching a parliamentary majority.
But in most part of Bangkok, the "no vote" ballots
run ahead of the votes for the Thai Rak Thai party. In the Muslim-dominated
South, many unopposed TRT candidates were likely to fall short of the 20 percent
threshold.
Due to the boycott of the three opposition parties,
some 276 out of the 400 constituencies have only one candidate. The uncontested
candidates have to garner at least 20 percent of votes in their constituencies
to claim victory as required by law.
About half an hour after voting completed in the
restive South Sunday, two bombs exploded at three polling stations of Pattani
and Narathiwat, injuring four soldiers and a police officer.
More than 1,100 people have been killed in two years
of violence in the region where the villager blamed on the so-called unfair
treatment of the government.
Simmering criticism of Thaksin ruling broke out in
late January following his family selling of its controlling stake in telecom
giant Shin Corp. to a Singapore state-owned investment company for 1.9 billion
U.S. dollars.
Thaksin dissolved parliament in February and called
snap elections on April 2 in hopes of renewing his mandate and defusing the
street protests demanding his resignation over accusations of corruption and
abuse of power.
Thaksin, who was determined to push forward the
election, has promised to step down if his party receives less than 50 percent
of the votes. The opposition therefore launched the "no vote" campaign aims to
make the TRT impossible to fill all 500 legislative seats, a prerequisite to
convene Parliament and form anew government.
Election official estimates the turnout is some 70
percent of the 45.2 million eligible voters, slightly lower than 72 percent in
last year's election.
Thai Rak Thai party sources revealed that Thaksin is
considering whether to step aside and turn the caretaker government over to his
deputy as one way to try to cool the heat of division, according to Bangkok Post
newspaper.
Analysts warned that the polling was unlikely to put
a rein on the lingering political stalemate and will produce a protracted chaos
for months to come. Enditem
| BANGKOK, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's new round
of general election begins Sunday morning, a poll called by the caretaker
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra three years ahead of schedule in a bid
to renew his mandate and defuse the protests. It is the third election
after its new constitution was adopted in 1997.
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