Pheu Thai determined to lead again

– Supporters in the northeastern stronghold of the Pheu Thai party are well aware of the complexities of the first general election in Thailand since a 2014 coup – on March 24 – and are determined to return their party to power despite electoral rules limiting voting power.

“How long have you all waited, how long have you all suffered?” Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai’s top prime ministerial candidate, asked supporters during a campaign stop in Ubon Ratchathani.

“We all have to wait just a little while, until March 24. That day will be a day of victory for all of us!” she told the cheering crowd.

Pheu Thai is the largest of several parties in the election linked to ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile after a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated.

The party and its offshoots retain support among rural farmers and the poor for their social welfare programmes, but they face an uphill battle in the election, with new rules that prevent any one party gaining a big majority.

Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, but after Thaksin was ousted their successive governments have been ended either by court rulings or coups, with the most recent military takeover ousting a Pheu Thai government that Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck, had led.

After nearly five years in power, the junta is in the process of choosing all 250 members of the Senate, which will elect a prime minister, along with the 500-seat House of Representatives. – AFP