A two-and-a-half-month election campaign could be compared to the last 10 minutes of a soccer match. Cue Thailand's unique political situation and it's like the last five minutes as far as Abhisit Vejjajiva is concerned.

Here is a player who is bruised and tired and whose loyal fans are even doubting he will "score the winning goal" with such a short time remaining. Bruised and exhausted perhaps, but by no means down and out.

In an exclusive interview with The Nation on Thursday, Abhisit appeared like a never-say-die athlete running on his second wind. If the Criminal Court's purging of the Election Commission of its three remaining commissioners was a big blow to Thaksin Shinawatra, it was a breath of fresh air to the young Democrat leader. Or so it seemed.

Cynics may say there is no other way for Abhisit to go but up. Five years of Thaksin and months of unprecedented political turmoil have submerged a man who was not so long ago the brightest of rising stars in Thai politics in a pit of scorn and scepticism. When Thaksin's popularity was at its peak, it took the gloss off Abhisit's shine. But with the Thai Rak Thai leader on his way down, he is appears to be taking Abhisit along too.

Critics are assailing the Democrats for failing to capitalise on Thaksin's decline, but Abhisit said they have not had a real chance to do so. "When was the last time we could present our case to a TV audience?" he asked.

His point was that even when Thaksin went into free-fall, the Thai Rak Thai Party's extraordinary dominance of the political landscape has ensured that the ruling party's rivals have remained muted and constrained.

And the fact that Abhisit's party boycotted the April 2 general election left him with a major scar.

While the boycott may have led to Thaksin's present misery, it is also a major cause of the present exceptional political divide. Abhisit acknowledged that Thai voters' allegiances had become very much like the loyalty shown by soccer fans.

Thai Rak Thai supporters won't swing to the Democrats no matter what, and vice-versa.

The election boycott, which in hindsight was the only effective tool that could be used to unravel the formidable "Thaksinocracy", has become an inexcusable crime in the eyes of at least half the Thai population.

Abhisit has until October 15 to change such widespread anti-Democrat perceptions. He is encouraging himself with the fact that the new election will be supervised by a new referee. And with an assumption that Thai Rak Thai is like Chelsea Football Club, which, to rivals at least, used money to buy success, a short-term efficient strategy could backfire in the long run.

So, what would he do in the "last five minutes" with a new referee?

"I will tell the Thai people that our country really needs a leader who can think of the country's interests before his own," he said.

On one the hand it sounds like a campaign cliché, but on the other it can be a very powerful election message. Abhisit's problem is how can he convince enough voters in such a short and extremely divisive period of time that the nation's crisis originated from the populace embracing a leader with so many conflicts of interest.

"We are at this impasse because the country's leader has had hidden agendas. So, a simple solution may be to find another leader who has none," Abhisit said. "To achieve reconciliation and restore harmony, the country needs an honest government that listens to all sides and cares about everyone. We need a government that serves the whole country, not just the regions that voted for it."

He challenged Thaksin to a head-to-head television debate, something the Thai Rak Thai leader is likely to decline as he has done in the past. "If he thinks he has done the right things, what is he so afraid of? Or is he brave on Saturday morning only?" said Abhisit, referring to the weekly radio talk that Thaksin uses to reach out to his followers and lash out at enemies.

The Democrat leader will have to rely very much on his eloquence. With Thaksin expected to go into the polls with all guns blazing where spending power is concerned, Abhisit is left with trying to sway voters on contentious issues. He plans to tell them that the much-proclaimed Thai Rak Thai economic "success" was a big exaggeration, that the widely-supported medical welfare and other "populist" policies are unsustainable, and that preaching and investing in a "sufficiency economy" is better than giving out cheap loans to please the poor.

He also makes a major promise - to support a constitutional-amendment process that excludes Parliament and politicians. Abhisit advocates something similar to 1997, when an ad hoc assembly of respected people with the least political affiliations was formed to draft a charter that was presented to Parliament for ratification. Another key pledge is to "bring justice back" to the deep South, meaning the "hawkish" approach of Thai Rak Thai would not be repeated.

How confident is he? Like his critics would say, it will only get better in the slightly improved environment. But he really needs a wonder goal to beat Thai Rak Thai. At 41, time is on his side, or so ardent supporters would love to believe. To doubters and opponents, he may be running out of time.

Tulsathit Taptim

The Nation