The arch-royalist army has no intention of leaving politics and has scripted a constitution that gifts it a foothold in power for a generation.
Standing in its way are supporters of its nemesis, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who has dominated Thai politics since his first election win in 2001.
But Sunday’s vote is the first under new rules that mean winning the popular vote does not automatically translate into leading a government, or choosing the next prime minister. “Forming a government and governing will be different,” warns Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientists at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.With days to go, election fever has gripped much of a country starved for nearly five years of political expression.
Sunday’s poll will essentially be a “vote on the military” said Thailand expert and historian Chris Baker. Its figurehead, army chief-turned-premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha has undergone a last-ditch Instagram makeover in a bid to strike a softer pose and return as a civilian premier, a cause aided by senators whose jobs will be owed to him.
Articulate and telegenic, Thanathorn blames the junta for bending the economy to big business, straitjacketing Thai democracy and plunging the kingdom into an outmoded authoritarianism.
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