Gallopedia Highlights- Week # 125

Dated 20^th-26^th June, 2010

This week’s report consists of 27 surveys. 1 of these is a multi-country survey. 11 polling organizations have been represented.

ASIA zone-4 national polls & 1 Multi National poll:
West Asia: Turkey, Afghanistan

Middle East & N Africa: Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco,

GCC: Yemen

Central Asia: Kyrgyzstan

South Asia: Nepal,

Northeast Asia: South Korea

Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines

AFRICA zone- 1 Multi National poll:

West Africa: Mauritania, Malí

Central Africa: Uganda, Tanzania, Chad

Southern Africa: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi

EURO-AMERICAS zone-20 national polls & 1 Multi national polls:

East Europe- Czech Republic, Georgia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Cyprus

West Europe- France, Sweden, Ireland, UK, Spain

North America- U.S.A, Canada
Latin America- Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Chile, Bolivia, Panama, Venezuela,

Australasia: New Zealand, Australia,

CYBER WORLD: 2 polls

Commentary: Thais Urge for Dialogue, Not Elections, For Peace

June 23, 2010

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Thailand reject the notion that a new general election will achieve national reconciliation, according to a poll by Bangkok University. Only 16.6 % of respondents think dissolving the legislature is the best way forward.

Conversely, 28 % of respondents think the government should listen to representatives from all political parties in order to foster unity and stability, and 24.9 % believe the best course of action is to help the poor and create jobs.

Thailand has experienced more than three years of political instability, including the dissolution of the lower house, a cancelled national election, a military coup and the enactment of a new constitution. In December 2007, Thailand held a legislative ballot. Final results gave the People’s Power Party (PPP) 232 of the 480 seats, followed by the Democratic Party (PP) with 165 mandates. In January 2008, PPP leader Samak Sundaravej became prime minister.

Samak’s government faced fierce opposition and major street protests led by the civic organization People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). The group accused Samak of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup.

In August 2008, the PAD occupied the Government House in Bangkok, demanding Samak’s resignation. Samak stepped down in September after the national Constitutional Court found that he violated conflict of interest laws when he received payments for hosting two television cooking shows. Then Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat took over as acting head of government.

In November, PAD yellow-clad activists took over Bangkok’s international airport—where the government had been working from after its offices were invaded in August—demanding Somchai’s resignation. The airport was forced to shut down entirely, stranding thousands of tourists.

In December, the Constitutional Court ordered the PPP and its two coalition partners, the Machima Thipatai Party and the Chart Thai Party, to disband after it found them guilty of voter fraud in the 2007 ballot. The court also banned Somchai and executives from the three parties from participating in politics for five years. Somchai accepted the verdict and stepped down. Protesters at the airport ended the siege. PP leader Abhisit Vejjajiva became prime minister, with the support of 235 lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

In March 2009, Thaksin accused Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda of masterminding the 2006 military coup, and openly called for a "people’s revolution" to topple the Abhisit government. In April, the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD)—an extension of the Puea Thai Party led by Thaksin and whose followers wear red shirts—organized protests in Bangkok and Chonburi.

In June, the PAD’s Yellow Shirts formally created a political party, the New Politics Party, and chose labour activist Somsak Kosaisuk as its leader.

On Mar. 12, 2010, the Red Shirt movement took control of Ratchaprasong, an area in the heart of Bangkok’s commercial district, demanding early legislative elections and the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit.

On May 13, after issuing several public warnings, the government ordered the military to enter the Red Shirts’ camp in Ratchaprasong and disperse the dissidents. Power, water and food supplies were cut from the camp. Eighty-five people died in the confrontations, which went on for days. The Red Shirts eventually surrendered. As they were leaving, some of them lit 36 buildings on fire, including a major shopping mall, and looted stores and banks. Another 54 people died in these events.

On May 25, a Thai court issued an arrest warrant against Thaksin on terrorism charges for his alleged participation in the Red Shirts’ actions.

Prime Minister Abhisit has set up four separate panels to study the incidents that led to last month’s violence. On Jun. 22, Chaturon Chaiseng, a former cabinet member under Thaksin, warned that the government has appointed only loyalists to these commissions, adding, "Abhisit’s plan excludes the opposition totally. The people he picked mostly supported the coup and the present constitution, which is the fundamental problem."

Polling Data

What should be the main priority for the government to achieve reconciliation?

Listening to the opinion of all parties	28.0%
Helping the poor, creating jobs	24.9%
Dissolving the legislature	16.6%
Launching an impartial investigation into recent political violence	9.5%
Arrest and punish terrorists	6.6%

Source: Bangkok University
Methodology: Interviews with 1,628 Thai adults, conducted on Jun. 16 and Jun. 16, 2010. No margin of error was provided.

SOURCE: http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/35669/thais_urge_for_dialogue_not_elections_for_peace

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The complete detailed weekly reports of the project can be found on theGilani's Gallopedia website.