By Jim Pollard
BANGKOK
A Bangkok court ruling Friday annulling last month's national election has plunged the Yingluck Shinawatra government deeper into crisis.
The Constitutional Court said the snap poll held February 2 was invalid, because no candidates stood in 28 constituencies in eight provinces in the country’s south.
The judges ruled six to three that the election violated Article 108 of the 2008 constitution, which requires that a poll be held on the same day throughout the country.
The court ordered the Election Commission to discuss a date for a new poll with the government.
The verdict -- welcomed by anti-government protesters and condemned by red shirts, who support the government -- came as little surprise.
It mirrors a similar situation eight years ago, when another "snap" election called by Shinawatra’s older brother, Thaksin, was boycotted by the main opposition party and annulled by senior judges after being criticized by King Bhumibol.
The caretaker Shinawatra government has been unable to meet in parliament because it does not have the required quorum -- 95 percent of the 500 members of both houses -- due to disruptions to the electoral process last month.
Over the past five months, anti-government protesters have waged an intense campaign against the government, which they accuse of gross corruption and being a puppet regime of former premier Thaksin, who now lives in exile.
Anti-government protesters, led by former Democrat MP Suthep Thaugsuban, have staged huge demonstrations and blocked major intersections in Bangkok for many weeks. They opposed the poll, and demanded that the prime minister resign to allow a "People’s Council" oversee a period of reform.
With the government refusing to buckle, the election was marred by deadly clashes in advance voting a week before the poll and blockades of polling booths on the main day of voting.
Ballots were unable to be completed in parts of Bangkok and many areas in the south -- the political stronghold of the opposition Democrat Party.
However, polling was largely unaffected in the majority of the country, including the north and northeast -- regions of pro-Thaksin support which also have the largest number of seats.
On Tuesday, a lawyer for the ruling Pheu Thai Party issued a statement, warning the court that any move to annul the poll would be opposed.
Grenades were also fired -- allegedly at the home of a judge on the court -- overnight, badly injuring a man in a nearby house in a suburb of Ekamai in the capital.
The latest attack was just one of many in a political conflict that has seen 20 people killed on both sides, plus over 700 injured since the end of November.
There have also been a series of small-scale blasts targeting the courts and independent bodies such as the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission and Ombudsman’s Office, which government supporters claim are in a secret conspiracy to bring down the Shinawatra administration.
A way out of the current impasse may be tricky, given that the opposition Democrat Party has warned that it may not contest any new ballot -- it is demanding "Reform first."
Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said Thursday that the prime minister and her party must respect the court’s decision and not rush to hold a fresh election "too soon."
Meanwhile, recent opinion polls and comments from major lobby groups suggest businesspeople and ordinary Thais are sick of the political divide and want things resolved as promptly as possible.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
