Senate poll big step toward Thai democracy

Senate poll big step toward Thai democracy

BANGKOK (AP): Thailand's first Senate election was hailed on Sunday as a major step toward full-fledged democracy, despite rampant vote-buying and victories by wives of Cabinet ministers, provincial godfathers and suspected underworld figures.

Observers praised the unprecedented voter turnout - at least 70 percent by the Election Commission's unofficial count - and wins by independently-minded social workers, human rights activists, academics and technocrats with sterling reputations.

The commission, double-checking figures and compiling ballots from some outlying provinces, said official results would be announced late Sunday or Monday, but it did not expect any major changes.

"A new chapter of Thai politics has just been opened," said former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, key architect of the reformist 1997 Constitution that Saturday's Senate elections put to the test for the first time.

The contest for 200 Senate seats among 1,521 candidates was seen as one between the people's emerging power and traditional money politics. The election for the Senate, authorized to act as a powerful watchdog over the political scene, does not affect the make-up of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's government.

The winners included slum worker Pratheep Ungsongtham and Mechai Viravaidya, internationally recognized for his birth control and anti-AIDS campaigns. Also elected was human rights lawyer Thongbai Thongpao, one of four winners of the Magsaysay Award, Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, who will enter the Senate.

Observers said such people, who have no connections with power brokers, would serve as a counter-weight to those seeking to move the Senate toward their self-interests.

But roughly one-half the winners were closely related by blood or loyalty to politicians or powerful provincial godfathers.

One was Chaweewan Kanchornprasart, wife of the interior minister, who denied accusations of vote-buying after amassing an unusually large ballot count. Suspected and known underworld figures also took seats in the new body.

But Saiyud Kerdpol, an official of one watch group, called the election "a very good start," with senators coming from many walks of life. While acknowledging the vote-buying, Saiyud said the new enthusiasm for democracy had "disappointed" many who had tried to buy votes.

While voting was mandatory, penalties were largely symbolic and many voters had to travel for hours aboard packed buses and trains to reach poll stations at their homes of record. The cost of travel in most cases was higher than any cash corrupt canvassers could offer.

An editorial from Sunday's editions of The Nation newspaper called Saturday's election "a watershed in the ongoing democratic development in Thailand."

Still, the Election Commission and independent watch groups received thousands of calls complaining about vote-buying, fraud and other irregularities.

Dubbed "ghost voting," several hundred voters turned up at polls only to find their ballots had already been filled out.

Commission member Gothom Arya told The Associated Press that investigations would be launched, with those found guilty of fraud facing jail terms of up to 10 years.

The election was the first test of political reform under Thailand's 1997 constitution, which attempts to increase citizens' participation in politics while limiting the influence of money and special interests.