Thai Leader Says He Will Accept Panel's Scrutiny

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By THOMAS FULLER
Published: April 4, 2006

BANGKOK, April 3 — Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra claimed victory on Monday in national elections, which were boycotted by opposition groups, and said he had a mandate to remain in his post.

"I am satisfied with the result," Mr. Thaksin said on national television, his first substantive comments since the voting on Sunday. "Sixty percent of people trust me."

But in a concession to opposition groups that have called for his resignation, Mr. Thaksin offered to set up an independent committee to judge his fitness to rule that would be made up of former prime ministers, former supreme court justices, former members of Parliament and deans from Thai universities.

"If this committee thinks that it's better if I quit, I will go," he said.

Mr. Thaksin said his party received 16 million votes, or 57 percent of the 28 million votes cast. Official results are expected Tuesday.

Data from the Election Commission indicated that about 10 million voters checked the "abstain" box on their ballots, a record number that opposition groups said showed the depth of disaffection.

Far from resolving Thailand's political crisis, the election on Sunday opened the door to dozens of by-elections in districts in which unopposed candidates failed to meet the 20 percent threshold of support mandated by law. The Election Commission said Monday that it would hold by-elections in 38 constituencies.

Mr. Thaksin's party ran uncontested in 278 of the 400 voting districts, virtually guaranteeing an overwhelming majority in the lower house. But it could prove a hollow victory.

"The boycott has robbed Thaksin of electoral legitimacy," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. "It's a bogus Parliament they will end up with, dominated by themselves."

The tenor was little changed from the acrimonious disputes that played themselves out on the streets and in newspaper columns before the election. Incomplete results showed familiar fault lines: Mr. Thaksin's party achieved strong support in the north and northeast, especially in the agrarian heartland, but there were large numbers of abstentions in Bangkok and in the Muslim region in the south.