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Panich claims victory in hotly contested by-election
- Published: 26/07/2010 at 12:28 AM
- Online news: Local News
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<!-- end heading-panel --> The Democrat Party's Panich Vikitsreth has clinched a narrow victory over his rival in the by-election in Bangkok's Constituency 6.
Democrat Party candidate Panich Vikitsreth, hands held high, celebrates after learning of his victory yesterday in the by-election in Bangkok’s Constituency 6. THITI WONNAMONTHA
Mr Panich yesterday managed to retain the parliamentary seat for the Democrats, which was left vacant following the death of cancer on June 11 of Thiwa Ngernyuang.
The Democrat candidate won more than 96,000 votes, beating his rival, Korkaew Pikulthong of the Puea Thai Party, by almost 15,000 votes at the end of counting in the constituency's four districts of Bung Khum, Kannayao, Nong Chok and Klong Sam Wa.
Unofficial voting results showed Mr Panich with 96,480 votes, against 81,776 for Mr Korkaew.
The turnout for the by-election was 49.55 per cent — 191,598 votes out of 386,660 eligible voters.
Mr Panich said he considered the result a landslide victory and said the by-election was an affirmation that democracy had now returned to the country.
He was speaking at the Democrat Party headquarters after he learned of his clear lead ahead of his contenders on Sunday.
Prime Minister and Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was on holiday with his family on Koh Samet in Rayong, telephoned to congratulate Mr Panich.
Mr Panich said <leo_highlight style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(255, 255, 150); background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 50%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; cursor: pointer; display: inline; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="leoHighlights_Underline_0" onclick="leoHighlightsHandleClick('leoHighlights_Underline_0')" onmouseover="leoHighlightsHandleMouseOver('leoHighlights_Underline_0')" onmouseout="leoHighlightsHandleMouseOut('leoHighlights_Underline_0')" leohighlights_keywords="the%20state" leohighlights_url_top="http%3A//shortcuts.thebrowserhighlighter.com/leonardo/plugin/highlights/3_2/tbh_highlightsTop.jsp?keywords%3Dthe%2520state%26domain%3Dwww.bangkokpost.com" leohighlights_url_bottom="http%3A//shortcuts.thebrowserhighlighter.com/leonardo/plugin/highlights/3_2/tbh_highlightsBottom.jsp?keywords%3Dthe%2520state%26domain%3Dwww.bangkokpost.com" leohighlights_underline="true">the state</leo_highlight> of emergency did not have any bearing on the by-election. Every contender had been able to run their campaign under the same regulations, he said.
Mr Panich said Puea Thai should have fielded a candidate who could travel and meet voters. Puea Thai had opted for Mr Korkaew who is being held at Bangkok Remand Prison on a terrorism charge related to violence during the red shirt protests from March to May.
Wicharn Meenchainant, who was in charge of running the Puea Thai Party's campaign in the by-election, conceded defeat after learning the unofficial results.
Mr Wicharn said the emergency rule, which remains in force, was partly to blame for his party's defeat.
Mr Wicharn claimed the by-election was tainted with electoral fraud.
He also accused the government of using state media to attack Puea Thai in the lead-up to the by-election.
He said on Saturday a host of a radio show on 103FM run by the Public Relations Department attacked Puea Thai for being involved in the political violence in May. Mr Wicharn criticised the Election Commission for not doing enough to inform the public of the by-election.
He also said he disagreed with the scheduling of the election which coincided with the long public holiday.
Political scientist Anek Laothammathat said Mr Panich's narrow victory over Mr Korkaew had shown the middle class were not enthusiastic about the by-election.
They had preconceptions about who would win the poll, so they did not bother to turn up to vote, Mr Anek said, adding that voters were mostly supporters of the Puea Thai and Democrat parties.
Ramkhamhaeng University political science dean Wutthisak Larpcharoenpol said the candidates of the two main parties were not outstanding enough to draw voters.
He said Mr Panich's narrow victory showed that Puea Thai's support base in Bangkok remained strong.
Election commissioner Prapun Naigowit said the EC would hold a meeting to endorse Mr Panich's election within seven days if there were no complaints of electoral fraud.
Number crunching A state official, above, adds up the votes in yesterday’s byelection in Bangkok’s Constituency 6 as red shirt supporters, down, watch to make sure nothing is amiss. The unofficial result showed red shirt leader and Puea Thai Party candidate Korkaew Pikulthong losing to Democrat Party candidate Panich Vikitsreth. PHOTOS BY PATIPAT JANTHONG
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