Old Guard Gets Boot In Thai Election

Old-guard politicians with dubious reputations lost en masse in Thailand's general elections, a sign that reforms are beginning to bite, analysts said Monday.

Controversial tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra pledged on Monday to build a coalition this week with the clout to dominate Thai politics following a landslide general election victory.

But despite winning the biggest ever mandate in Thai history, the 51-year telecoms billionaire could still see victory snatched from his grasp by the country's Constitutional Court, which is examining graft allegations against him.

Thaksin said he aimed to build a coalition by Thursday to command about 320 seats in the 500-seat parliament.

Saturday's elections were the first under an anti-corruption constitution adopted in 1997. The document challenged patronage and vote-buying so blatant that in one race, a candidate's workers once stapled cash to campaign flyers.

In Saturday's vote, "voters sent a clear message to old-style politicians that their time is over," said Assadang Panikabutra, a political analyst from Bangkok's Ramkhamhaeng University.

According to unofficial results, the Thai Rak Thai (Thai Love Thai) party led by Thaksin won 257 of 500 seats in the House of Representatives, trailed by the Democrats of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai with 125 seats. Some 40 percent of the 500 seats will be held by newcomers, unofficial results show.

Among the biggest defeats in Saturday's election was that of Vatana Asavahame, a political boss whose family has dominated politics in the Samut Prakan province for two decades.

Vatana was once denied a visa by the United States because of alleged drug ties, which he denied.

Five of his family members ran in the election, but none won a seat.

"Our era is over," Somboon Rahong, a leader of Vatana's Rassadorn party, told a news conference Monday.

Another notable loser was deputy agriculture minister Newin Chidchob, a powerful figure in northeastern Buri Ram province. In a previous election, his canvassers were caught with currency notes totaling $440,000 stapled to campaign cards.

In Bangkok, two sons of a former interior minister lost partly because of their reputations for getting into barroom brawls.

The Thai Citizen party of current Bangkok Gov. Samak Sundaravej also failed. Samak had been elected to the legislature 10 times, but liberals accused him of supporting a military massacre of protesting students in 1976. His party was once a leading force in the capital but did not win a single seat this time.

Still, a few political heavyweights will remain in the new government.

Among them is former Interior Minister Sanoh Thienthong, who deserted another party to join Thai Rak Thai just before the election. He wields great influence along the Thai-Cambodian border and is involved in trucking, construction and real estate businesses.

"Some old-style politicians still survive in the new party, but I believ that those dinosaur politicians will adjust themselves and change their color," Assadang said.

Despite reforms, Saturday's elections were not free of fraud allegations.

Thailand's Election Commission said Monday that a spate of protests over some vote counts was causing delays in announcing results, which had been due Sunday. The commission has said it could call by-elections in one quarter of constituencies or more where there is evidence of fraud.

Thaksin, a media billionaire, has said he hopes to form a governing coalition within a week.

He began the search Monday for a finance minister who will inherit the toughest job in his new administration. The new finance chief will have to balance the twin aims of Thaksin's party: following liberal fiscal policies to pull the country out of a 3 1/2-year-old economic quagmire while initiating big spending programs to fulfill Thaksin's campaign promises.

"The person who will become finance minister will have a tough job," Thaksin said. "He will step into the ministry right at the time it's running out of money."

The National Counter Corruption Commission ruled Dec. 26 that Thaskin had concealed a small portion of his vast wealth when he served in a previous government. If the Constitutional Court concurs, he could be barred from office for five years.