2005 Thai general election

none Thailand parliamentary 2001 Thai general election 2001 2006 Thai general election 2006 All 500 seats in the House of Representatives 251 6 February 2005 44,572,101 72.56% ( 3.13pp) Constituency vote % and swing Party-list vote % and swing Thaksin DOD 20050915.jpg 240 120 160 17 63 Thaksin Shinawatra Thai Rak Thai 248 seats 377 128 16,523,344 54.35% ( 18.67pp) 18,993,073 60.48% ( 20.57pp) Banyat Bantadtan 2010-04-01.jpg 180 120 160 3 23 Banyat Bantadtan Democrat Party (Thailand) 128 seats 96 31 7,401,631 24.35% ( 0.19pp) 7,210,742 22.96% ( 2.90pp) Banharn Silpa-archa (cropped).jpg 180 120 160 0 25 Banharn Silpa-archa Thai Nation Party 41 seats 25 16 3,119,473 10.26% ( 2.01pp) 2,061,559 6.56% ( 1.33pp) Anek Laothamatas Anek Laothamatas.jpg 130 120 160 0 5 Mahachon 2 seats 2 2,223,399 7.31% (4.17pp) 1,346,631 4.29% (3.05pp) 2005_Thai_General_Election_Map_By_Constituency.png Parties that won a majority of the seats in each province #E30613 darkgray Thai Rak Thai #00A1F1 darkgray Democrat #E90080 darkgray Chart Thai gray darkgray No majority Prime Minister Prime Minister-designate Thaksin Shinawatra Thai Rak Thai Thaksin Shinawatra Thai Rak ThaiThai Garuda emblem.png General elections were held in Thailand on 6 February 2005. The result was a landslide victory for the Thai Rak Thai party of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which won 377 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives, with its former coalition partner, the Chart Thai Party taking 25 seats. The opposition Democrat Party of Thailand won only 96 seats and the newly formed Mahachon Party took two seats. Background Following the 2001 general elections, the New Aspiration Party merged into Thai Rak Thai, although it was later re-established by Chingchai Mongkoltham. The National Development Party (Thailand) and Seritham Party also merged with Thai Rak Thai Party. Electoral system At the time of the elections the House of Representatives consisted of 400 members elected from single-member constituencies and 100 members elected from national party lists on a proportional basis. Campaign Democrat Party thumb|300px|Democrat Party poster highlighting the "201" campaign The Democrat Party led by Banyat Bantadtan did not seriously expect to defeat the coalition of the other two parties, but hoped to win 200 seats, which would have been a gain of 70 seats. However, intra-party conflicts between Banyat's southern faction and the Bangkok faction led by Abhisit Vejjajiva made this goal appear even less realistic. The Democrats also developed a populist agenda, promising more jobs, free education and health care, and combating crime and corruption. However, the party refused to give details of their policies.Aurel Croissant and Daniel J. Pojar, Jr., Quo Vadis Thailand? Thai Politics after the 2005 Parliamentary Election https://web.archive.org/web/20090419131607/http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Jun/croissantJun05.asp 2009-04-19 , Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue 6 (June 2005) The TRT's landslide victory cast doubt over the future of both party leaders, and Banyat resigned as Democrat Party leader immediately after the election. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Banyat's successor, said: "It will take a long time to revive the party because we need to look four years ahead and consider how to stay in the hearts of the people." Thai Rak Thai The Thai Rak Thai party was seeking to win an absolute majority in its own right, something no political party had ever achieved in Thailand at a genuinely free election. A coalition of other parties and civil society groups was formed to prevent this, arguing that Thaksin already had too much power and that giving him an absolute parliamentary majority would encourage what they alleged were his authoritarian tendencies. Prominent academic Kasem Sirisamphan, for example, accused Thaksin of running a "parliamentary dictatorship" and said that "people do not want a billionaire prime minister to further dominate the country and its politics." Thaksin's party replied that it had provided Thailand with a stable, competent and corruption-free government, although critics said that corruption has actually increased under Thaksin's watch. Party spokesperson Suranand Vejjajiva said that Thais Love Thais was "the first party which could translate its populist policies into action. Its achievements and Mr Thaksin's vision give the party a clear edge and it will win an absolute majority," he said. thumb|300px|Promotion for Thaksin Shinawatra and his party on a Bangkok tuk-tuk (taxi) Thai politics tend to be regionally based. Thai Rak Thai is strongest in the north-east region (Isan), the poorest and most populated part of the country, where Thaksin's populist policies are most popular. TRT is also dominant in the north, since Thaksin was born in Chiang Mai and has directed much government spending to his home region. Thai Rak Thai is strong in the Chao Phraya valley as well, although the region has historically been a stronghold of Chart Thai, which still dominates in some of the central provinces. Voters in Bangkok, the wealthiest part of the country, are less predictable, but steady economic growth, goal-oriented campaign agendas like "Healthy Bangkok" and "10 new MRT lines across the capital", and the publicity Thaksin received after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was enough to swing the allegiance of the capital's middle-class to TRT. The Democrats are strongest in the south, but are popular among liberal-minded voters in Bangkok. During 2004 most observers suggested that Thaksin's popularity had declined since its peak in 2003, and that he was unlikely to achieve an absolute majority for his own party. The deaths of Muslim protesters in southern Thailand and the bird flu outbreak were seen as issues which the Thaksin government had handled poorly. Tsunami effects These calculations were upset by the disaster of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which devastated six southern coastal provinces. The tsunami and its aftermath drove the election campaign to a large extent out of the media, and also produced a strong sense of national solidarity, from both of which an incumbent government could be expected to benefit. Most commentators praised the Thaksin government's response to the disaster. Political commentator Veera Prateepchaikul, who identified himself as an opponent of Thaksin, wrote in the Bangkok Post on 10 January: "Mr Thaksin deserves credit for his quick response to the disaster, his decisive leadership and his skills in crisis management." Veera also pointed out that the provinces directly affected by the tsunami were part of the Democrat Party's southern stronghold, and that Thaksin's high profile, particularly on state television, in delivering aid to the area might improve his party's chances of winning more seats in the south. "The Democrats might cry foul that Mr Thaksin is using the state media for campaign purposes," Veera wrote, "but the people may think otherwise." Only a miracle, he wrote, could turn the "tsunami tide which is now clearly in favour of Mr Thaksin." In the event the Democrats retained their dominance in southern Thailand, winning 50 of the 52 southern seats for which figures are available. Pre-election predictions Given such increased expectations, a failure by Thai Rak Thai to win 250 seats would have been seen as a considerable setback for Thaksin. The Bangkok newspaper The Nation published predictions by its reporters on 8 January, predicting that of the 400 constituency seats, Thai Rak Thai would win 233, the Democrats 94, Chart Thai 47 and Great People 26. If the parties achieved similar results in the 100 proportionate seats, this would have given Thais Love Thais about 290 seats overall and the Democrats about 120 seats. This proved to be a considerable underestimate of the scale of Thaksin's victory. Results Thaksin's party dominated most of Thailand's regions. In Bangkok it won 32 seats to the Democrats' four and Chart Thai's one. In the Central region it won 79 seats to 10 for Chart Thai and eight for the Democrats. In the North, it won 71 seats to the Democrats' five. In the North-East (Isan) region, it won a massive 126 seats, to the Chart Thai's six, with two each going to the Democrats' and the Mahachon Party. Only in the South was the landslide resisted. Democrats won 52 seats in their traditional stronghold, while Chart Thai and Thai Rak Thai won only one seat each. Of the 100 seats elected by proportional representation, Thais Love Thais won 67, to the Democrats' 26 and Chart Thai's seven. Thaksin said he would now form a one-party administration, ending his uneasy coalition with Chart Thai. The Bangkok newspaper The Nation said that Thaksin "has apparently won the strongest popular re-endorsement in Thai political history and is set to be the most powerful prime minister ever elected to lead the Kingdom." Thaksin is the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Thailand to complete a full four-year term in office and the first to win an absolute majority in the House in a relatively free election. The day after the election, Thaksin said he would "work harder and faster to implement policies and resolve the country's problems." He said the government would "quickly boost Thailand's competitiveness in the international market, and would also look into improving religious affairs issues." This was taken as a reference to the situation in the south of the country, which has a large Muslim population, where there has been a history of unrest and disturbances, and where Thaksin's party won only one seat. The Nation newspaper reported: "Many voters [in the south] said they had lost faith in Thaksin, who has refused to apologise for incidents such as the deaths of 78 Muslims in October who were held in military custody after being arrested for protesting in the village of Tak Bai." File:22nd Thailand House of Representatives composition (2005).svg Party-list Constituency Thai Rak Thai Party 18993073 67 16523344 310 377 +129 Democrat Party 7210742 26 7401631 70 96 –32 Thai Nation Party 2061559 7 3119473 18 25 –16 Mahachon Party 1346631 0 2223399 2 2 0 Farmer Power Party 298517 0 1022 0 0 0 Debt Relief Party 293487 0 166651 0 0 New Labour Party 162225 0 1245 0 0 0 National Democratic Party (Thailand) th พรรคชาติประชาธิปไตย National Democratic Party 100203 0 9952 0 0 0 New Aspiration Party 88951 0 133935 0 0 –36 Phaendin Thai 82608 0 2247 0 0 New National Development Party 72690 0 176 0 0 0 Prachachon Thai 61540 0 29550 0 0 New Social Action Party 58721 0 22144 0 0 –1 Thai Help Thai 50127 0 618 0 0 New Thai Citizen Party 38324 0 7023 0 0 0 Thai Natural Party 37916 0 2694 0 0 New People's Power Party 26855 0 0 Rak Thin Thai 26585 0 2538 0 0 New Kasikorn Thai Party th พรรคกสิกรไทย 24232 0 6703 0 0 New Third Choice Party 13237 0 900 0 0 New Krit Thai Kong Party 2471 0 0 New Blank votes 357515 741276 y 935586 1938590 0 44572101 44572101 Election Commission By province ProvinceTotalseatsSeats wonThai Rak ThaiDemocratThai NationMahachonAmnat Charoen22Ang Thong211Bangkok373241Buriram1010Chachoengsao44Chai Nat22Chaiyaphum77Chanthaburi33Chiang Mai1010Chiang Rai88Chonburi77Chumphon33Kalasin66Kamphaeng Phet55Kanchanaburi55Khon Kaen1111Krabi22Lampang55Lamphun33Loei44Lopburi55Mae Hong Son22Maha Sarakham66Mukdahan211Nakhon Nayok22Nakhon Pathom541Nakhon Phanom55Nakhon Ratchasima16151Nakhon Sawan77Nakhon Si Thammarat1010Nan33Narathiwat431Nong Bua Lamphu33Nong Khai66Nonthaburi66Pathum Thani541Pattani44Phang Nga211Phatthalung33Phayao33Phetchabun77Phetchaburi312Phichit431Phitsanulok642Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya55Phrae33Phuket22Prachinburi33Prachuap Khiri Khan33Ranong11Ratchaburi55Rayong44Roi Et862Sa Kaeo33Sakon Nakhon77Samut Prakan77Samut Sakhon33Samut Songkhram11Saraburi44Satun22Sing Buri11Sisaket981Songkhla88Sukhothai44Suphan Buri66Surat Thani66Surin981Tak312Trang44Trat11Ubon Ratchathani117211Udon Thani1010Uthai Thani211Uttaradit33Yala33Yasothon44Partylist10067267Total50037796252 References "Rivals battle to end Thaksin era," Bangkok Post, 6 January 2005 Veera Prateepchaikul, "Thaksin is swept along by the tsunami," Bangkok Post, 10 January 2005 Literature Paul Chambers Consolidation of Thaksinocracy and Crisis of Democracy: Thailand's 2005 General Election Between Consolidation and Crisis: Elections and Democracy in Five Nations in Southeast Asia Lit Berlin 2006 277–328 External links Elections under Thaksin - a rural perspective Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker The Nation's guide to the general election https://web.archive.org/web/20050914044615/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/Election2005/ 2005-09-14 Realtime vote-counting report News about Thailand's 2005 General Election Why Thaksin succeeds https://web.archive.org/web/20050209094537/http://www.2bangkok.com/WhyThaksinsucceeds.shtml 2005-02-09 Category:General elections in Thailand Thailand General General