Voters in Thailand were heading to the polls on Sunday, 24 March, in the country's first election since the military ousted an elected government in a 2014 coup.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, the army chief who led the coup, is hoping to extend his hold on power after engineering a new political system that aims to stifle the influence of big political parties not aligned with the military.
The junta-party – Phalang Pracharat –which is proposing army chief turned premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha for civilian prime minister after the polls, is under intense pressure to avoid humiliation in what is effectively a referendum on its popularity.
About 51 million Thais are eligible to vote.
Leaders of political parties opposed to military rule have urged a high turnout as the only way to derail Prayut’s plans.
Two-Decade Struggle Between the Military and Ex Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra
The election is the latest chapter in a nearly two-decade struggle between conservative forces including the military and the political machine of Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon who upended tradition-bound Thailand’s politics with a populist political revolution.
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup and now lives in exile abroad to avoid a prison term, but parties allied with him have every election since 2001.
Prayut toppled the civilian government of Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck in 2014, the twelfth coup in under a century.
The army and its allies in the Bangkok elite loathe the Shinawatras, accusing the clan of toxifying Thai politics and society with money, nepotism and graft.
The Shinawatras say they have simply recognised the economic and democratic aspirations of Thailand's majority.
This time the ruling junta has written new election rules aimed at curbing the number of seats big parties can win.
A 250-member junta-appointed senate and a new proportional system were meant to have maneuvered Prayut and the junta party into pole position.
Lopsided Election Rules Written by the Junta
The kingdom remains bitterly divided despite the ruling junta’s pledge to rescue it from a decade-long treadmill of protests and coups.
Politicians across the spectrum fear a stalemate under election rules, written by the junta, which limit the chances of any single party emerging with a comfortable parliamentary majority.
Political parties and their main leaders held their final major rallies on Friday, 22 March’s evening in Bangkok.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, leader of the main pro-Thaksin party, Pheu Thai, said it would fight to overcome constitutional hurdles erected against it by Prayut's regime.
“In 2014, they took power with the barrel of a gun, by a coup. In 2019, they are trying to take away the people’s power again through crooked regulations under the constitution.”Sudarat Keyuraphan
Slower Economy Under Prayut?
Concerns about a slowing economy under Prayut's rule have been an issue in the campaign.
Sudarat told the crowd, "Every time we come back, the economy improves, right?"
Prayut, dressed in a white button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves, pumped his fist into the air as he took the stage at a rally for the military-backed Palang Pracharath party.
"I will protect this country for our future generations," he said. "Who will join me?"
When it seized power in 2014, the military said it was to end political unrest that had periodically turned violent and disrupted daily life and the economy. The claim has been a major selling point for Prayut.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)