According to different news sources, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's party has won an overwhelming number of seats, ensuring that he will remain in office and that his party has gained control of the legislature without the need of coalition parties.
The prime minister has taken a strong stance toward reforming the Thai constitution, which had been rewritten recently due to internal power struggles in the government and armed forces, who have mounted several coups over the last 60 years. Fears are that many of the freedoms that the Thai press currently enjoy will be wiped out should the constitution be reformed.
While a police office who was guarding a candidate in the South of the country was shot, most observers said there was very little violence. This was a welcome surprise considering that tensions in the south have been on the rise for the last few years. some guerrilla groups in the south have been fighting an active military campaign for the predominantly Muslim southern provinces to achieve greater autonomy.
While criticism had been strong of the Thai Rak Thai party's policies, the response of the prime minister to the December 26th Tsunami quited many of those criticisms. The prime minister was seen rushing to the affected areas, with many of his ministers in tow, barking out orders and basically imposing his will any way that he thought would help the situation. With the disaster taking over the front page headlines of newspapers, criticism of the PM was nearly invisible over the last month.
However, in the south, the rival Democratic party seemed to have swept the area. A stronghold of the Democrats, many Muslim voters rejected the Thai Rak Thai party for what they consider mishandling of the sectarian movements in the area.
"We knew beforehand that people hate us. Their sentiment against the government is very high," said Ariphen Utharaseng, a Thai Rak Thai lawmaker who lost his seat to a Democrat rival in one of the three Muslim-dominated provinces of the south.
This election saw a projected turnout of 70%, the highest ever voter turnout in the history of Thai elections. Vote counting is to end on Monday with the official results to be known later this week.
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