Will the Feb 2 election go ahead as scheduled? That is the question that seems to be on everyone's mind given the anti-government movement's vow to stop the election at all costs. The answer, however, can perhaps be found in the Pheu Thai Party election campaign posters that are popping up along Bangkok's streets and elsewhere in the country.
At a glance, these election posters, which feature caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra sporting a smile and offering policy pledges, are reassuring. They tell us voters that things will go on as normal. Upon closer inspection, however, the worrying signs cannot be missed.
In previous general elections, posters from different parties clogged the streets at every turn, shouting for public attention. This time _ with the election only a month away _ there are only Pheu Thai posters, looking almost forlorn.
The misnamed Democrat Party has opted out, saying it has lost hope in the ballot box game that would only end up perpetuating the political hegemony of Pheu Thai and its de facto leader, the divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Ironically, the Democrats end up producing a self-fulfilling prophecy. By refusing to serve the public by providing a robust opposition, the country's oldest political party has ended up weakening parliamentary politics, thus contributing not only to Pheu Thai's majoritarianism, but also to the political mayhem that is threatening to turn more violent.
While the Democrat Party has turned down the opportunity to translate public demands for decentralisation and police reform into election policy platforms, the caretaker Pheu Thai-led government does not fare much better. For starters, given the country's fierce political divide, a national leader should at least maintain a public image that he/she will serve people from all factions. Ms Yingluck's image against a red backdrop in many of her election campaign posters speaks volumes of where she stands. In short, Ms Yingluck accentuates the divide, rather than attempting to bridge it.
While calls for reform have struck a chord with people from all political factions, the government could have weakened the anti-government protesters' cause and avoided a political showdown had it embraced reform as a major policy platform.
Yet, as it turns out, the reform message in Pheu Thai's election campaign is inaudible, drowned out by the party's much louder message which tells voters that it will be business as usual after the election. "Give Pheu Thai a chance to successfully complete our policies," shouts one of the campaign posters. This simply shows the party's insensitivity to public frustration with its policies which finally exploded into mass street protests.
During the past two years, the government has refused to listen to any criticism of the rice-pledging scheme that has cost taxpayers nearly 700 billion baht. The same with the 2-trillion-baht infrastructure investment project and the 350-billion-baht water management scheme, which are similarly marked by a total lack of transparency. The blanket amnesty bill was another example of how an arrogant majoritarian government thought nothing of cheating the public in order to push unpalatable policies down their throats, resulting in the current mass protest.
Pheu Thai's election campaign shows it has not learned any lessons from its mistakes. It is not enough for the ruling party to simply call a general election to continue the democratic process. It also needs to live up to democratic values.