By William Barnes
Asia Times Online
BANGKOK – Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister, has given the nod to radical United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protest movement leaders to run on his Puea Thai party ticket at upcoming national elections. Whether their participation and association with last year’s protest-related violence will help Thaksin’s electoral cause is in doubt.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolved parliament on Monday, paving the way for early polls on July 3. Opinion polls show a neck-and-neck race between Abhisit’s Democrat Party and Puea Thai, which is expected this week to nominate Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, as its prime ministerial candidate.
The UDD and its top leaders, who last year campaigned for early elections and the ouster of Abhisit, have arguably been tainted by the mayhem unleashed in the wake of last year’s protest-related clashes and crackdown. At least 91 people were killed in confrontations between protestors and security forces, with neither side accepting responsibility for any of the casualties.
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