The vast number of ‘no votes’ dominated the front pages of Monday’s newspapers.

Abstaining from voting by casting "no vote" ballots in Sunday's snap election was the most powerful political tool Thai voters have ever used to express their political will. In doing so they rejected the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party along with caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Thai electoral system allows eligible voters to cast a "no vote" if they don't want any of the candidates standing for election to represent them in Parliament. Previously, such voting has had no political implications, so not many ballot papers were marked "no vote".

However, this time it was Thaksin who gave ammunition to Thai voters and challenged them to shoot him and his crew down; to regard the snap election as a referendum, for or against him.

Thaksin, who was under heavy political pressure after a Bt 73.3-billion business deal on which he avoided paying tax, dissolved Parliament at the end of February after noisy street protests clamoured for his resignation.

"Now that political conflict has arisen," Thaksin said, "I would like to ask you to decide if you want to use the services of this government again. I will respect the decision of the public, not just one group of people."

Then he invited the public to vote for "me or them".

He vowed not to return to office if the "no votes", plus votes for smaller parties, outnumbered the votes cast for his Thai Rak Thai Party.

It now appears that Thai Rak Thai's candidates in 26 constituencies in Bangkok, as well as those in 56 constituencies in 14 southern provinces, lost to the number of "no votes" in their electorates. Additionally, the party's candidates in inner constituencies of other regions are trailing the "no votes".

One day after the election, Thaksin seemed unable to accept defeat, insisting that his party had received more than 50 per cent of total votes in the poll.

However, the massive abstention, despite its lack of legal weight, is more powerful than Thaksin can calculate because it challenges the legitimacy of his party and its candidates to form a new Parliament.

In many constituencies, the number of "no votes" is far higher thanthe votes given to Thai Rak Thai candidates. It implies, simply, that the majority of people in those constituencies reject Thai Rak Thai and its candidates.

This is without counting the invalid ballots, which at more than one million may be the most ever in an election. It's quite possible that these invalid ballots were cast by voters who wanted to express their anger against Thakisn and his candidates. A lot of voters wrote intriguing messages on their ballot papers, such as "Thaksin, get out", and "Thaksin, you are evil".

 Despite having won the election - for lack of any opposition - the many TRT candidates who received fewer votes than the number of "no votes" should now consider whether they have the legitimacy to claim office as MPs. How can they proudly face the people in their constituencies? The majority of those people have clearly signalled that they don't want to be represented by them.

The so far unofficial result of the April 2 election suggests that it may be remembered in history as the day the Thai Rak Thai Party and its leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, won the battle - but lost the war.

Political Desk

The Nation