Fewer votes 'not a sign of party weakness'
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Pheu Thai's support among Chiang Mai residents has not dwindled even though its by-election candidate, Yaowapa Wongsawat, won fewer votes than the party did in the general election, a university lecturer said yesterday.
Paisit Phanitkul, a law lecturer at Chiang Mai University, said Yaowapa’s victory confirmed that Chiang Mai was still Pheu Thai’s stronghold.
In the by-election in Constituency 3 on Sunday, Yaowapa won some 70,000 votes, whereas in previous elections Pheu Thai earned more than 80,000 votes.
Paisit said Yaowapa, a sister of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, won fewer votes due to two factors. First, the by-election was held after the long Songkran holidays when voters were not very interested in politics. Second, Pheu Thai assumed that the Democrat contender, Kingkarn na Chiang Mai, would be no match for Yaowapa and thus did not mobilise its supporters to go to polling stations in full force.
Pheu Thai spokesman Promphong Nopparit said that though Yaowapa had won fewer votes than in previous elections, it did not mean the party was losing its popularity. He said the party did not have enough time to hold election campaigns and the voter turnout was also low.
Meanwhile, Democrat deputy spokesperson Mallika Boonmetrakul told a press conference yesterday that the party was satisfied with the votes its candidate had received.
She said the Democrat candidate stood at a disadvantage because of the ruling party’s power and her opponent’s wealth, but she had still won a high number of votes. Kingkarn got 21,979 votes gainst Yaowapa’s 70,181.
Mallika said the fact that Pheu Thai had notched up fewer votes than usual should prompt the Shinawatra family to pay attention to public opinion.
Mallika also called on the Election Commission alone to consider the four complaints of alleged election fraud, because the Democrat did not trust the Chiang Mai Election Commission.
