• 
• 

Published on December 26, 2007

But what else or who else is to be snubbed or snuffed out by Thai voters who, for all the apparently irreconcilable differences, have managed to send out a common message in a very subtle way? It's bye-bye to the generals, yes. But welcome home Thaksin? Probably not.

The results are complex and mirror the political crisis itself. The constituencies' results show Thailand remains a tale of two cities. Against all odds, the People Power Party, the shabby reincarnation of Thai Rak Thai, has maintained the TRT's central and northeastern strongholds. It surrendered Bangkok to the Democrats but won enough seats to shock opponents, delight anti-coup critics and provide the world with an inspiring democratic fairytale.

That's only half the story. What's different from the 2001 and 2005 elections is the Democrats' dramatic resurgence in the popular vote. They were miserable in those two elections, securing just over 7 million votes in the party-list category both times, compared with the TRT's 11.6 million and 18.9 million votes respectively. The oldest party actually edged the PPP on Sunday, securing 14.08 million votes against the PPP's 14.07 million.

It's Thailand's version of the Florida-style division. The constituency contests revived a party virtually destroyed by coup-makers, but the popular vote strongly recognised a party accused of sharing the bed with the generals. What does this tell us? Surely it's something more profound than just "the coup is dead". The results confirmed us as a nation divided into two halves of democracy.

One half seeks to protect the voice of the poor and underprivileged. The coup put away their leader and crippled their party. They went out and elected whoever was fielded by the PPP, sending a historic warning to the military: stage another coup if you dare.

The other half strives to establish the rule of law. Thaksin took away this fundamentals of democracy and crippled the country's checks and balances. Maybe the Democrats' popular-vote victory was not meant to laud the party for sleeping with the generals, but it was the biggest warning yet to the man: if you want to come back politically, think again.

Superficially, there remains the big, potentially detrimental clash of ideologies. But if we blend the two results, we will get this: Thais are longing for politics that really care about the grassroots, the proclaimed philosophy of Thaksin. But politicians must do the right thing for the right reason. It will be a shame if the PPP fails to form the new government, but there won't be an uprising if a PPP-led government fails to bring Thaksin home.

The poll results say Thaksin can come back, but they are anything but a red carpet. The numbers represent the nation's awkward struggle to reconcile differences between its divided people. If a common message can be found among all 32.7 million voters on Sunday, it may read like this: "Yes, Thaksin's ideas of government are good, and yes, he can come back, but he has to come under the rule of law and prove himself right there."

The constituency results show the coup is dead. The popular vote says the demise hinges on one key condition. And this half of the country is not saying this in support of military interference in politics. The 14 million-plus voices are a weary caution that if coup-makers are opportunists, the pretexts are often conveniently provided by none other than politicians who have as much contempt for true democratic values.

The constituency results say Samak Sundaravej should be given a try. They say he is welcome to carry on policies that, under Thaksin, won the hearts of the poor. The party list result warns  that this is all he should do, if he wants to bury the coup for good. No more defence of indefensible graft. No more abuse of power and mandate. No more misinterpretation of election "legitimacy".

On Sunday we heard the nation's head and heart speaking at the same time. They aren't always in agreement and both can't always be right or wrong. The most important thing is that we have cleared the first hurdle, making a bumpy return to democracy. The next challenge is to make sure the voices from both sides are heeded.

It will take one hell of a compromise to bridge the differences, but apparently Thais have just managed something as difficult - saying no to the coup and the man it deposed in one go.

 Tulsathit Taptim

The Nation