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Published on November 5, 2007

CPD secretary-general Suriyasai Katasila said the December 23 poll would be used by some political parties merely as a public referendum on whether voters want the Thaksin regime back or not. It would end up the same as the referendum on the 2007 Constitution - distorted to make the voters decide whether they want Thaksin's regime or not.

"People are still confused and society is still divided,'' he said.

The activist said it was unlikely the coming election would help lessen political conflicts and crises and Thais stood to lose under such circumstances, because parties had failed to offer their political visions and policies to tackle national problems.

The CPD secretary-general attacked candidates who defect from one party to the next for vested interest rather than national interest.

Suriyasai said he believed the reason candidates switched camps was not party policies but because they were not satisfied with the amount of money offered to secure allegiance.

He said the clear revelation by politicians they have spent millions on candidates showed it was unlikely each political party spent less than Bt15 million on their election campaigns as required by the Election Commission.

He criticised parties for failing to show their stances on the anti-corruption investigation against Thaksin and his family.

"Some parties are avoiding a commitment on what they will do if they are in power over the investigation and only try to sell the idea to the public that they are neutral and do not belong to an anti-Thaksin camp or supporters of Thaksin,'' he said.

The Nation