4 replies to this topic

[Sexpat]

A very impressive win for the red shirts, assuring that Opposite will do everything he can to avoid a general election as long as possible, no matter what he says.

[Hedda]

The landslide was big, but made even more impressive by the fact that the red shirt candidate defeated the wife of Si Saket city's mayor, which is the largest distict in the constituency. In addition, the losing candidate's son had previously won the election in 2007. It takes a lot of voter support to beat that kind of entrenched nepotism. The warning for PM Opposite is clear: call snap elections and you could open the door to a red shirt coalition government which will push for Thaksin's pardon or amnesty.

From here on, look for Opposite to keep saying he's not afraid of elections, but he wants to see political reform first. It may be the easiest way to delay the elections in the short term, but it may also be the long term road to perdition when these reforms come home to roost and all those banned veteran politicians ( except Thaksin) re-enter the political wars,supporting the red shirt banner.

[B.I.G.]

There's always a danger in trying to draw conclusions about national voter sentiments from local election results, but the Thai blogs and websites I've been reading suggest that the red shirts have successfully labeled Newin as a traitor to the cause and his name was the poison that the Thaksin people used in both of their recent landslides victories. Earlier speculation that Newin had buried Thaksin by defecting to the Democrat-led coalition is turning to speculation whether Newin has self-destructed by appearing to have turned traitor to the rural masses.

[Sexpat]

The strength shown by Pheu Thai at the polls may be paying off already:

"Pracharaj Party leader Snoh Thienthong is likely to return to the Pheu Thai's fold, main opposition party deputy leader Apiwan Wiriyachai said on Wednesday. "Snoh will reunite with Pheu Thai although his new position will be determined later on by the party executive board," Apiwan said, conceding he acted as the go-between to broker the deal.

Snoh, known as the kingmaker, was one of the founders of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party and helped to install ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra in power. The two parted way following the outbreak of the turmoil over Thaksin's leadership. Apiwan said he carried his task alone to convince Snoh, denying speculation that the Shinawatra family had involvement in the deal."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...unite-with-Snoh