Since seizing power in a 2014 coup, the army has repeatedly pledged to restore democracy. But many Thais see the election, being held Sunday after numerous delays, as likely to extend military rule. From SBengali :
Thai women hug Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at a campaign event in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on March 13.
“It seems they have the election in their pocket,” Wichachai, a 29-year-old from rural northern Thailand, said of the pro-military party. “Everything is already decided.” “This election will be utterly unfair — and free only up to a point — in view of the junta’s likely manipulation and coercion to get outcomes it wants,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.
Pro-Thaksin parties have won every national election in this Southeast Asian kingdom since 2001. But his populist policies, self-aggrandizing style and efforts to exert authority over the security services made him a bogeyman for Thailand’s conservative establishment, which saw his rise as a threat to the monarchy.
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