Observers air key concerns on vote

The watchdogs – the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) and the Asia Foundation – will deploy a limited number of staff to observe the referendum, locally and unofficially. 

Fundamentally, they will try to see if the vote satisfies some grounds required for it to be deemed “free and fair”. For instance, they will see if people can vote in secrecy and without forced influence, whether vote counting is done in public, and how logistics are arranged prior to the voting day.

But their capacity to monitor this highly questioned plebiscite may be limited as the two watchdogs failed to gain official accreditation from the Election Commission. In fact, the EC this time did not accredit any independent observers, whether international or domestic.

Anfrel’s executive director Ichal Supriadi said that the EC response, to Anfrel’s request to observe for a short period before the referendum, was that the network had limited time to arrange local observers. It also had to coordinate with local civil society groups, such as a youth voluntary network We Watch, to get enough contacts to conduct the observation.

Ichal said Anfrel would deploy 15 staff in polling booths in the capital, Phuket, Nonthaburi, Prachin Buri, Buri Ram and Chon Buri, plus the EC headquarters in Bangkok, which will operate as a counting centre on the day.

With Anfrel having earlier done comprehensive reports on the referendum process and the charter draft, Ichal said the network’s top concerns were limited public participation and consequent lack of public knowledge about the draft.

“The Thai government tries to implement democratic practices by holding a referendum, but at the same time also oppressed [freedom of] expression,” Ichal said. 

“The referendum is much more complicated than a regular election. It’s my biggest concern – of how to make people of every quarter understand what they’re going to vote on.”

Much like Anfrel, Kim McQuay, the Asia Foundation’s country representative in Thailand, said the foundation was focused on the quality of free expression and whether people understand all of implications of the draft charter.

McQuay said the way the charter draft was created, the scope provided by authorities to discuss it, and the coherency of referendum questions for most people made this vote “distinct” from elections he had observed elsewhere.

The Asia Foundation will deploy around seven to eight members to polling booths in Bangkok. It will not provide any official comment or statement regarding their observations.

Anfrel, meanwhile, insisted it would produce a comprehensive report based on its members’ observations.

Representatives from election agencies in Bhutan and East Timor will also observe the referendum, but in an official manner. East Timor’s head election commissioner Jose Agostinho da Costa Belo and his delegation have come to observe the vote as a study, as he thought a referendum could also be held in his country as a democratic instrument.