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[Gene]

"The People Power party (PPP) drew around 25,000 people for its first major rally in Bangkok at Sanam Luang yesterday where the party promised to continue the legacy of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. No major new policies were unveiled, with the main message put across to supporters that the ideas laid down by Thai Rak Thai would prevail.

"Samak [Sundaravej] will become a prime minister like Thaksin for you," said party spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang on stage.

However, PPP leader Samak spent little time talking of what he and his party will do if they are voted into power, with most of his speech focussing on how great a leader Thaksin had been. The staunch Thaksin ally also detailed the alleged injustices the former prime minister has had to endure at the hands of his political opponents since the coup last year.

The former Bangkok governor said those who toppled Mr Thaksin wrote a new charter that will create a host of future problems for Thailand, such as weakening the political party system. However, PPP will be ready to clean up the mess they leave, he said.

Mr Samak said PPP was almost complete in its efforts to ensure it had 480 candidates ready to run for every parliamentary seat in the Dec 23 general election."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=122596

[Garcia]

The People Power party (PPP) drew around 25,000 people for its first major rally in Bangkok at Sanam Luang

I was just reading one of those Wikipedia summaries of Thai constitutional history and didn't realize until now that the name of the Thai political party founded by the organizers of the revolution of 1932, in which the absolute monarchy was abolished, was "the Peoples' Party."

I assume that the Peoples' Party of 1932 is long dead, but I wonder if former TRT's party members' choice to blend with a party of such a similar name is a deliberate attempt to evoke that history.