A group of voters from the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat on Friday gathered to demand anti-government protesters hand over general election ballot boxes and papers currently being held at a local post office, reports said.
They assembled in front of the Otop centre on the Hat Yai-Pattani Highway in Pattani’s Nong Chik district calling on People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protesters to vacate the Regional 9 post office and allow authorities to deliver ballot boxes and voting papers to polling stations in the far South.
Anti-government protesters have been surrounding the post office in a bid to prevent the planned Feb 2 election from taking place.
Earlier, the pro-election group had planned to travel to Hat Yai to take back the ballot boxes and voting papers, but their leaders decided against the plan to avoid possible violent confrontation with PDRC supporters.
They instead submitted open letters to relevant offices, asking them to reclaim the ballot boxes and papers from protesters to enable the Feb 2 polls to go ahead.