• 
• 

Published on December 19, 2007

No matter who wins the election, things will be far from peaceful as two rival groups are threatening to rally against each other if their favourites fail.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has threatened to stage a rally if the People Power Party gets to form a government and whitewash former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's past.

Meanwhile, if the Democrats' win is considered doubtful by the pro-Thaksin camp, the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) will stand up and protest.

PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasila, who is also secretary-general of the Popular Campaign for Democracy, said the PAD would not rally if the PPP wins, but will definitely create a ruckus if Samak Sundaravej uses legal devices to clear Thaksin.

Suriyasai said he had listened carefully to PPP's addresses, most of which concentrated on promising people that the party would work to clear Thaksin's name.

"The PPP has tried to distort facts. They have not told people about the damage that [Thaksin] inflicted upon the country, so if the next government uses its power to help Thaksin, we will rally again," he said.

Any rallies would be peaceful, he said, though the feeling was that they would be vastly bigger than previous anti-Thaksin turnouts.

The PAD yesterday launched a convoy to drum up opposition to the PPP, which is widely considered the proxy party of Thaksin.

"It is time for the silent majority to choose between the nation and Thaksin," PAD adviser Pipob Thongchai said in reference to undecided voters and those who don't plan to vote.

Pipob said he counted on voters to put the country back on track by ending the Thaksin legacy and rejecting the PPP.

DAAD co-leader Natthawut Sai-kua said the alliance wanted this election to be fair and that they had encouraged people opposing the coup to come out and vote.

He said the DAAD would not launch any campaigns unless it considers the poll results as unfair.

"We can accept it if the Democrats win the election, but it has to prove that the votes came from real people not other powers," he said.

Though Natthawut is a party-list candidate for PPP, he still works with the DAAD camp, and believes his party will win. "There is no way that the Democrats will win, but if they miraculously do, then we will have to prove that they did not get support from anything other than the people."

President of the Federation for Democracy, Weng Tojirakarn, who is also a DAAD leader, said he and his allies would not take a stand against the PAD because they had the constitutional right to rally.

However, he said, he believed the people could decide for themselves if they wanted to support the PAD or not.

"For us, we respect all the votes, whether they go to the PPP or the Democrats, and we won't go against them because we want to see democracy return to the country. Our campaign is calling on people to 'come out to vote and make the coup extinct'," Weng said.

He said the Federation for Democracy would also monitor the elections for fraud. "Tomorrow we will meet the Election Commission to tell them that we will observe the process of voting," he said.

Meanwhile, Kraiwan Kasemsin, chairman of the Taxi Club in Mor Chit and Don Muang, said his group would not stir up the sentiments of taxi drivers to rally like the PAD.

He said he disagreed with PAD's plan, adding the people's choice should be respected, even if it results in the PPP winning. However, he said, if the PAD disagreed with the election result and insisted on rallying against it, his group and allies were ready for clashes, he said.

"We are showing that we respect the people's voice. Why can't the PAD do the same?"

A taxi driver, who declined to be named, said most taxi drivers had posted stickers supporting the PPP because they all know it is actually the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai.

"The Thai Rak Thai government had policies that helped taxi drivers. It impressed us, so most drivers want to show that they still love Thaksin and are ready to vote for PPP," he said.

Budsarakham Sinlapalavan,

 Sucheera Pinijparakarn

 The Nation