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Friday February 24, 10:40 PMNew Thai parliamentary polls set for April 2
"The election date is set for April 2," the decree, read out on national television, said. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had earlier dissolved the house amid demands for him to resign over allegations of financial mismanagement. New elections could be a way for Thaksin to evade his critics' calls to quit following a furor over his family's multi-billion-dollar sale last month of its stock in the telecoms giant Shin Corp. With his party firmly in control of the previous lower house -- Thai Rak Thai held 375 of the 500 seats -- the opposition is not expected to make a serious challenge, said Bidhya Bowornwathana, an associate professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. This could pave the way for Thaksin, who was re-elected in a landslide victory in 2005, to return under a new mandate, he said. |
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