Thaksin rides tsunami election wave

BANGKOK - Thaksin Shinawatra, the first Thai Prime Minister to be elected for a second term, essentially rode the tsunami to his overwhelming victory yesterday, after his bold handling of the disaster boosted his popularity in the six devastated southern provinces.

The political party he founded, the Thai Rak Thai (Thai Loves Thai), has won a clear mandate to lead for another four years.

The main Opposition Democrat Party, which had hoped to squeak through with 201 seats in the 500-seat Parliament and prevent a majority for Thaksin's party, conceded defeat in the general election before any ballot papers were even tallied.

Exit polls indicated that Thaksin's party would hold at least 399 of the 500 seats.

Official results, originally expected last night, have been delayed by protests of fraud and cheating. Turnout was high, with an estimated 70 per cent of the 44.9 million voters casting ballots.

A telecommunications billionaire and former police colonel, Thaksin, 55, rose to power in 2001 by campaigning on free health care and largess to farmers.

His inability to control sectarian violence in the Muslim-dominated south, where nearly 700 people have died in conflict in the past year, was perhaps Thaksin's weakest point.

But when Thailand was bludgeoned by killer waves on Boxing Day, and lost an estimated 8400 people in a single morning, all else was forgotten. Thaksin's hands-on approach proved inspirational.

He rushed to Phuket and Khao Lak to tour the destruction with his ministers, consoling survivors and rolling up his sleeves to deal with the devastation.

- INDEPENDENT, additional reporting Reuters