In any respectable democratic system, a winning poll candidate who secured an overall majority of electoral support would take office with the earliest effect. Not in Thailand. When Chadchart Sittipunt trounced 29 rivals by gathering 1.38 million or 51% of the votes cast in Bangkok's gubernatorial election on May 22, the capital's electorate had to hold their breath in suspense to see whether and when the Election Commission (EC) would validate his runaway victory.
The EC's assertion of authority after the recent Bangkok vote reflects a broader pattern of politically motivated regulation results in possible favour of one side over the other. Working hand in glove with the Constitutional Court and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the EC has decided electoral outcomes regardless of voters' preferences, having dissolved major political parties and banned representatives. It's worth mentioning that many of them stood on the opposing side of the conservative-military regime over the past 15 years.
