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Published on October 28, 2007

Dr Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, president of the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), told me the idea is just absurd given that the EC has suggested it would designate at least two places in each of the 76 provinces nationwide as "official" venues for political rallies.

In other words, political parties fielding candidates for the 480 House seats are barred from holding rallies at their own preferred venues.

Somsak Prisananuntakul, deputy leader of the Chat Thai party, said the EC should quickly abandon the plan because it would not work.

In practical terms, all parties contesting the polls should have the freedom to mobilise people to listen to their policy platforms at any venue they deem suitable as long as they are not in violation of the law.

The EC should also bear in mind that similar attempts were made during the Senate election and failed, as few people were interested in the official rallies, which are uncommon in any democratically governed country. Dr Sombat noted that only communist countries with a single-party political system fix venues for political rallies.

In addition, the EC also plans to restrict the role that television and radio stations will play in the upcoming polls by requiring them to ensure that all political parties are "equally" represented in political talk shows, interviews or related programming, whereas the parties themselves will be subject to stricter rules concerning mass media spending.

This means that no party - including the cash-rich People Power Party (backed by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra) - will be allowed to spend heavily on television and radio ads. It will not be possible for political parties to sustain feverish political campaigns on a national scale without the heavy use of television and radio advertising.

In the meantime, any attempt by deputy premier General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the former chief of the Council for National Security, and the EC to jointly address the vote-buying issue are unlikely to be successful beyond city areas (where voters are better educated and informed), whereas the majority of rural voters, especially those in the North and Northeast, will continue to listen to their local canvassers.

Hence, vote-buying will continue to be widespread in many rural areas, including in the South, which is now no less vulnerable to such illegal practices.

For this election, voters are being offered very similar populist and state welfare policies by the large and medium-sized parties, namely the Democrat, People Power, Matchima Thippatai and Chat Thai parties. There is no significant ideological difference among all these contenders.

In short, their proposed initiatives, whether free education and healthcare, monthly stipends for the elderly or new mass transit lines, are reminiscent of those touted by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, the successor of which is the People Power Party led by former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej.

Samak and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva are expected to be in the final round of the competition to be the next prime minister, with Prachai Leophairatana of Matchima Thippatai and Banharn Silapa-archa of Chat Thai seen as weaker candidates.

In this context, voters ought to judge candidates and their party affiliations based on past performance and record of transparency. Only an unfettered flow of information will allow voters to exercise their constitutional right appropriately.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com