Thailand's registrations for constituency candidates begin

BANGKOK, December 28 (TNA) - Five-day registrations of constituency candidates for Thailand's new general election, set on February 2, 2014, have begun across the country, amid tight security and turbulence in the Thai South, where there were rallies of anti-government protesters. The atmosphere on the first day of the registrations of election candidates running in Bangkok’s 33 constituencies at the government complex in the capital’s Chaeng Wattana area was active on Saturday morning, as candidates of several political parties had continued arriving at the venue since 7pm (Thailand's time) to file their applications with the Election Commission of Thailand (EC), while their supporters showed up to give them morale. According to the EC, 53 political parties have registered to contest in the February 2 general election in 33 constituencies in the capital, including the ruling Pheu Thai Party, as well as the coalition Chart Pattana Party and Chartthaipattana Party, while the Democrat Party has announced to boycott the upcoming national poll. Security measures have been heightened at the registrations venue, following violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok's Din Daeng, the venue of the registrations of party-list candidates, earlier this week, causing two dead, one is a police officer, and more than 150 others injured, and a shooting by unidentified gunmen at a demonstration site near the Government House early Saturday morning, killing one victim and injuring three others, although a core leader of the arch anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), Suthep Thaugsuban, on Friday night called on his supporters for a New Year break, but coming back for even stronger anti-government demonstrations in the capital after the New Year festival. The EC later announced that the registrations of election candidates in 32 constituencies in six southern provinces have been, meanwhile, suspended due to the seizure of the venues by anti-government protesters who have demanded a national reform before the new general election. The six southern Thai provinces include Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Surat Thani, Phatthalung and Songkhla. In Songkhla, election commissioners in all eight constituencies even announced their resignations as demanded and pressured by the PDRC protesters.(TNA)