泰国大选提前投票受阻 当局寻求收复被占领区域

Large numbers of anti-government protesters began to surround polling stations in some districts of Bangkok and southern provinces early Sunday, in an attempt to oppose the scheduled advance voting for the Feb 2 national election.

EC secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong said Sunday morning that the advance voting in the North and the Northeast, except Surin, had been carried out.

In the South, the advance polling could be held in some provinces including Songkhla, Pangnga and some stations in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

He said the advance election could also been carried out in most of provinces in the Central region and in the East, except in Samut Songkram and Bangkok where the EC received reports that 18 districts out of 50, had called off the advance election.

Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary-general of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), called Saturday night for supporters to gather at 5am to prepare to move to close election stations in Bangkok’s districts.

As of 8am, election officials in several districts of Bangkok were unable to enter the polling stations, which were set up at locations such as schools, department stores and district offices.

Protesters used chain to lock the entrances of some polling stations, such as Ban Bang Kapi School which is used as a polling unit for some 80,000 people who had registered for advance voting.

PDRC protesters moved quickly from one polling station to another on learning that polling units in other districts were still open.

Most core protesters who lead the protests at each polling station have tried to say that the protesters do not oppose the election but only put “pressure” on election officials not to carry on the advance voting.

While the protesters have been successful in closing the polling stations in many areas, people shown up to cast their votes have complaints about the situation.

In the South, PDRC protesters were successful to close five polling stations in Trang since Saturday night so the advance polling there was also called off but protesters say they would continue to stay at polling stations until 3pm. There are a total of 2,028 people registered for advance voting in Trang but none of them had shown up as the PDRC protesters had announced earlier that they would close the polling stations.

综合外国媒体报道，当地时间1月26日，泰国大选提前投票正式开始，然而由于反政府示威者的阻挠，首都曼谷和南部多地的投票被迫取消。另外，泰国选举委员会与看守政府定于28日开会商谈是否推迟大选，而泰国当局正在尝试收复曼谷被占领区域。

***提前选举受阻

25日晚，泰国反政府集会领导人、“人民民主改革委员会”秘书长素帖呼吁其支持者于次日凌晨5时集合，然后前往曼谷各区投票站，阻止当天开始的大选提前投票。

素帖的呼声得到广大示威者响应。26日一早，示威者用链条封锁了通往多个投票站的道路或者直接将投票站团团围住。受此影响，许多选举官员上午8时过后仍然未能进入投票站工作。

曼谷市政府公布的数据显示，截至26日中午12时，在全市50个选区中，已有39个选区的提前投票工作被迫取消。

而在泰国全境，北部、东部、中部和东北部大部分地区的提前投票进行得非常顺畅，但南部几个省份的提前投票被取消。由于无法进入投票站，一些选民前往附近警局寻求帮助。

泰国选举委员会秘书长布宗26日上午称，包括宋卡府在内，该国南部仅有少数几个省份的提前投票得以进行。在董里府，当地的5个投票站早在25日晚就被反政府示威者占领，他们打算一直待到26日下午3时才会离开。由此，尽管董里府共有2028名选民进行了提前投票登记，但26日无人出现在投票站。

***商谈推迟大选

泰国宪法法院上周五裁定，原定于2月2日举行的大选可以推迟，但必须由选举委员会和看守政府共同确定大选日期，并提请国王发布相关谕令。

《曼谷邮报》26日报道称，选举委员会和看守政府初步同意28日就是否推迟大选一事展开协商。据悉，看守政府方面已委派副总理蓬贴出面协调和安排总理英拉与选委会商谈事宜。而选举委员会也在25日向英拉发出了正式邀请。

选举委员会秘书长布宗表示，此次会谈定于28日下午2时举行，至于具体的会议地点，则由英拉决定。29日，选委会还将邀请有关政党开会，届时将可知晓大选是否推迟以及被延后至何时。

***寻求收复失地

为恢复政府机构的正常运作，泰国和平及秩序管理中心

泰国特别调查厅负责人塔利表示，这个谈判小组由来自警方、军方和相关政府机构的代表组成，他们将与发起反政府示威活动的“人民民主改革委员会”展开谈判，寻求其放弃占领区域。

自本月13日“封锁曼谷”行动开启以来，曼谷市内7大繁华街区被示威者占领，位于被占领区域内的政府机构几乎无法正常运作。“谈判不会秘密进行，我们也不会使用武力驱散示威者。”塔利称，“对于政府而言，收复失地非常重要。只有这样，我们才能向人民提供服务。”

此外，泰国和平与秩序管理中心还向示威者发出警告，要求其遵守紧急状态法、远离曼谷市内被划为禁区的13个政府机构、25条道路和拉玛八世桥，否则将面临刑事指控。

而泰国特别调查厅则宣布，将于27日要求法庭向首批16名违反紧急状态法的“人民民主改革委员会”领导人签发逮捕令，并勒令有关个人和组织停止向其提供援助和庇护。