Fierce competition is expected in Sunday’s by-election in Phitsanulok to replace Padipat Santipada, who was banned from politics for 10 years following the disbandment of the now-defunct Move Forward Party.
The Constitutional Court in August dissolved Move Forward and banned 11 executive members for 10 years, on grounds that the party’s plan to amend the lese-majeste law was a threat to the constitutional monarchy.
Mr Padipat had been a member of the Move Forward Party board and thus subject to the ban, even though he had arranged to be “expelled” from the party in order to take up a deputy speaker’s position in the House.
In the May 2023 election contested by 15 candidates, Mr Padipat received 40,842 votes, followed by Adunwit Wiwatthanat of Palang Pracharath with 19,096 and Natthasat Champhunot of Pheu Thai with 18,180.
Today’s vote is strictly a two-candidate contest between Nathachanon Chanaburanasak of the People’s Party, the successor to Move Forward, and Chadet Chanthara of the Pheu Thai Party.
Chadet Chanthara of the Pheu Thai Party joins members campaigning for him in Phitsanulok on Saturday. (Photo: Chinnawat Singha)
With both the main opposition party and the ruling party vying for the seat, the race is expected to be intense.
No complaints had been received as of Saturday, Election Commission (EC) chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said.
That was a good sign that the election would run smoothly, he said.
Voting will take place from 8am to 5pm across 208 polling stations, with the ballot count at each station expected to take a maximum of one and a half hours, given the number of eligible voters at each station, which ranges between 100 and 200, he said.
The unofficial result is expected between 8pm and 9pm, Mr Ittiporn said.
Constituency 1 has 138,705 eligible voters and recorded an impressive 75.2% turnout last year, so today’s voter turnout is also expected to be significant, he added.
Padipat Santipada, who won the 2023 election in Phitsanulok Constituency 1 by nearly 21,000 votes before facing a 10-year political ban, joins a People’s Party campaign team on Saturday. (Photo: Chinnawat Singha)