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Thai protesters step up campaign

Main opposition vows to boycott elections

AFP, Bangkok
Thai opposition protesters yesterday stepped up their campaign to disrupt upcoming elections, trying to block candidate registrations as part of efforts to banish Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her family from politics.
The main opposition Democrat Party, which has not won an elected majority in parliament in about two decades, has vowed to boycott the February 2 polls called by Yingluck following weeks of street rallies by her opponents.
It is the latest chapter in a years-old political crisis which broadly pits a Bangkok-based elite against mostly rural and poor supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive former premier who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
Hundreds of demonstrators surrounded a stadium in Bangkok yesterday where representatives of political parties were trying to register to run in the polls ahead of the December 27 deadline.
Nine parties, including Yingluck's Puea Thai, managed to enter although officials were unable to fully complete their registration, according to the country's Election Commission.
About two dozen parties filed complaints with the police because they were prevented from entering.
But it appeared to be only a temporary setback with the election authorities expressing confidence
that the parties would be able to register in time.
"For those parties that cannot enter the stadium we will contact them and made appointments for them to submit documents," Election Commissioner Dhirawat Dhirarojvit told AFP.
Puea Thai party said that Yingluck was on top of the party's list of candidates - a position that would usually make her Puea Thai's pick for prime minister ifit wins the polls.
Her candidacy is certain to anger the demonstrators, who want to rid Thai politics of the influence of her brother Thaksin - a billionaire tycoon turned premier whom protesters accuse of controlling the government from his home in Dubai.
At least 150,000 people joined the latest antiThaksin mass protest in the capital on Sunday, according to an estimate from National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut. Organisers said the turnout was much higher.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has vowed to "shut the country down" to prevent people voting.
The demonstrators' self-proclaimed People's Democratic Reform Committee is calling for an unelected "people's council" to be installed to oversee sweeping but loosely-defined reforms before new elections in around a year to 18 months.
Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters have voiced fears that the recent protests are aimed at encouraging the military to seize power, in a country which has seen 18 successful or attempted coups since 1932.