Former terror suspect wins Narathiwat
Former terror suspect and respected community leader Dr Waemahadi Wae-dao won an overwhelming majority of votes in Narathiwat, while squabbling among candidates fighting for the same support base in Pattani resulted in Anusart Suwanmongkhon coming out ahead in the Senate election.
In Yala, Tuanabduloh Da-oh Mareeyoh, a candidate with links to Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, a very influential Thai Rak Thai Party executive, emerged victorious in spite of anger over the government's handling of problems in the restive region.Wan Noor has stayed out of the spotlight ever since the humiliating defeat of his Wadah faction in the 2005 general election, when it could not win a single seat in the Malay-speaking region. The anti-government sentiment following the Krue Se siege and the Tak Bai massacre were just too strong for Wan Noor to resurrect his political clique and few are interpreting Tuanabduloh's victory as a comeback for Wadah. Waemahdi won in Narathiwat with 97,514 votes - more than three times as many as the runner-up, Halimah Uthrarasin, whose husband Areephen is a former MP from the province. Observers said support for Halimah, who came a distant second with just over 30,000 votes, emerged after her husband promised to quit politics entirely following his humiliation in the April 2 general election. Areephen, a member of Wan Noor's Wadah faction, did not receive the minimum 20 per cent of votes required for a candidate contesting unopposed. Waemahadi was acquitted last year of plotting to bomb US and other embassies and soft targets in Thailand. Reports of him being tortured while in detention stirred up resentment among locals, who refused to believe the rural doctor, known for his generosity and tireless work for community development, was a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah, an al Qaeda-affiliated organisation. The first-placed winner in Pattani, Anusart raked in nearly 64,000 votes while the runner-up, Nimukta Waba, received nearly 47,000 votes, defeating third-placed Petchdao Toemeena by nearly 17,000 votes. Observers said Petchdao, Nimukta and sixth-placed Abdulhalim Minsa, who received just over 11,000 votes, were all seeking support from the same traditional voter base, namely the rural community, the pondoks, or traditional Islamic boarding schools, and religious leaders. Residents in the three southernmost provinces turned out in high numbers, about 75 per cent, to vote in the Senate election, despite of a string of attacks on election day that killed three officials, two of them policemen, and injured more than 30 others. The Nation Narathiwat
|
