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New Thai polls fail to fill seats

Thailand's ruling party may be blocked from forming a new government after by-elections over the weekend failed to fill several seats in parliament, deepening the country's political crisis, preliminary results showed yesterday.

The Election Commission said it was meeting to decide whether to call a third round of parliamentary elections, admitting it was unsure how to handle polls that have propelled the country into uncharted constitutional territory.

Boycotts, ballot destruction and some violence punctuated voting on Sunday in 40 constituencies where seats were left vacant in earlier polling for the lower house of parliament, which cannot convene unless all seats are filled.

The rerun was triggered by an opposition boycott of April 2 elections and a constitutional requirement that any unopposed candidate must garner at least 20 percent of the votes cast in order to win.

Unofficial results showed that in at least 13 constituencies, candidates of the ruling Thai Rak Thai party which ran unopposed failed to meet the minimum requirement, the Election Commission said, after 80 percent of the vote was counted.

Election officials say there is no textbook solution to the problem, which could send Thailand into a period with no solid leadership.

If the Election Commission decides to hold another round of voting, it would delay the formation of a new government and lead the nation into an unprecedented postelection quandary.

The law stipulates that parliament should convene within 30 days of an election to form a new government, but also that it cannot do so unless all 500 seats of the lower house are filled.

A Constitutional Court ruling would be needed on whether the lower house can convene if all 500 seats are not filled.

Another possibility is for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the constitutional monarch, to appoint an interim government pending fresh elections.

"We do not know yet what to do," said Ekachai Warrunprapa, secretary-general of the Election Commission.

He said the commission was weighing whether to pronounce the election completed despite the empty seats and let the parliament decide how to continue.

"Or, we might organize a re-election to make sure there are winners for the 500 seats," he said.

"But chances of getting 500 seats are slim," he added.

The polling was concentrated in southern Thailand, a center of opposition to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- who handed over power to a caretaker leader earlier this month -- and the scene of a bloody Muslim insurgency.

Thaksin has been accused of corruption, abuse of power and mishandling the insurgency. Following mass street protests in Bangkok and elsewhere, Thaksin announced that he was taking "a break" from politics, but critics say he plans a comeback.

Before Sunday's voting began, unidentified gunmen shot and killed the driver of a district official and wounded a woman in Narathiwat Province, the government Thai News Agency said.

In separate Senate elections last Wednesday, two police officers and an election volunteer were killed and 22 others were wounded in attacks by militants in the southern part of the country.
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