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Related: Snap general election
in Thailand
BANGKOK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Although the final
results of Thailand 's general election on April 2 have not been announced, the
Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party which led by caretaker Thaksin Shinawatra Monday
morning appeared to face the situation of "win-north-lost-south".
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| People hold their ID cards as they queue to
enter a polling station to cast their ballots in the country's national
election in Bangkok.
(AFP) | According to the
latest figure, Thaksin's main support is from the countryside. Early returns
showed he was getting solid support in the North and Northeast -- enough for
another parliamentary majority.
The turnout was around 70% of the 45 million
registered voters, compared with 73% in election of February of last year. Local
reports estimated that TRT has already got around 200 seats across the north and
northeast.
While in the south, Thaksin met a fatal defeat which
TRT lost most of the constituencies. It appears that up to 29 candidates of TRT
Party from 41 constituencies with one-horse candidates in southern provinces
failed to gather the required 20-percent of votes from eligible voters in each
constituency.
Unofficial results Monday morning showed that only 12
of 41 one-horse candidates of TRT managed to gather the required 20-percent of
votes.
The Election Commission of Thailand will have to hold
sub-sequent elections for constituencies where the one-horse candidates fail to
earn votes up to 20-percent of votes from eligible voters but the same
candidates would have to run and no new candidates can apply.
Meanwhile, as of Monday morning, TRT have won most of
36 Bangkok constituencies. But the problem is in most of the 36 constituencies
in Bangkok, "no-vote" rate is as high as 50 percent, while TRT only got
40-percent of sustain.
Thaksin has promised not to take office if he gains
less than 50 percent of the votes. Therefore, the final result of TRT's fate can
not be estimate right now since the winning in the north maybe fetch up the lost
in South.
Thaksin rushed to the headquarters of TRT Monday
morning to hold an emergent meeting, apparently rattled by a staggeringly high
number of "abstain" votes in an election he portrayed as a virtual national
referendum on his beleaguered leadership.
This year's one-horse election is the first time to
appear during Thai history which the three former opposite parties boycotted the
snap election. And it is also the first time that so many "no-vote" polls in the
ballot boxes.
The final result of the election will be announced
Monday evening by the Election Committee and then Thaksin will remark publicly
on his political future. 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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