Voting to keep someone out

In case you haven't noticed, the Bangkok gubernatorial election is over. Ballots have been counted, the winner announced, all in a rather low-key, dispirited fashion as if we were ashamed and tired of having to go through the same process so soon one after another. Anything worthy of discern from the insipid race?

The governor election did not seem to receive much attention from the public probably because it was a repeat process, held only a few months after the last one, or because it couldn't compete with the high drama complete with egg-throwing incidents of national politics. Still, there was speculation at the beginning that the race would be close, that it was going to be a contest that revealed which party's voter base was bigger, stronger or better organised.

It was thus a small surprise when it turned out that it was not a terribly tight race. The Democrat candidate M R Sukhumbhand Paribatra won over the first runner-up by as many as one-third of the votes. What does the Democrats' sweeping win tell us?

It's clear M R Sukhumbhand did better than expected, bringing home more than 930,000 votes. Right up to election day, the general feeling was that the Democrats' candidate would reel in fewer votes than the previous governor, Apirak Kosayodhin; that he would not attract up to 900,000 votes, let alone come close to the million mark which Mr Apirak had attained.

What was the Democrats' second wind?

Although M R Sukhumbhand deserves some credit since he was, after all, the candidate who went around doing the campaigning, his personality can't be said to be a big draw for votes. Compared to his competitors, M R Sukhumbhand did not show a strong personality or appeal. He himself admitted to a rather urgent need to readjust himself to the rigours of a public, political life after a hiatus and to work on his public speaking skills.

Most of the votes that went M R Sukhumbhand's way were thus likely to be for his party. Good or bad, like it or not, Bangkok people seemed to take the opportunity given by the gubernatorial election to express their support for the ruling party struggling for survival at the national politics level. This may be a case of voting misuse. Bangkok people are supposed to select the best person to govern the city, not to show their approval, or lack thereof, for political parties.

Which brings me to another point. During the weeks leading up to the governor election, the question I was asked most frequently was: Sukhumbhand or Kaewsun? My friends and I spent a large part of last Saturday night discussing the pros and cons of the two choices. I myself remained undecided almost till the last minute.

What tipped the scales for me?

I am not a fan of People Power, Puea Thai or the Red Shirts. Maybe it's wrong to mix national politics with the local one, or to consider who I don't want as governor instead of who I do, but I did consider the prospect of a Puea Thai candidate in making my choice.

Last time, the then PPP candidate Prapat Chongsanguan received about 500,000 votes. I figured that should be about the size of the PT base. With M R Sukhumbhand projected to win fewer than 900,000 votes, and with two more candidates, namely Mr Kaewsun Atibhodhi and M L Nattakorn Devakula vying for votes from the same groups of voters, I was afraid the PT might benefit from the situation. So I made my choice. I did not so much as choose a candidate to be the governor than try to block one I didn't want from taking office.

Bangkok voters have been accused of many things including being unpredictable and too easily swayed by events other than their immediate concern. There may be some, like me, who can be criticised for casting a negative vote instead of a confirmative one.

Considering the circumstances, I would definitely not rest on my laurels if I were M R Sukhumbhand or the Democrat party. Although the number of votes and voting percentage hardly deviated from last time - about 45 per cent of votes for M R Sukhumbhand compared to almost 46 per cent for Mr Apirak, 29 per cent for first runner-up Mr Yuranan compared to about 25 per cent for Mr Prapat, and 16 per cent for this year's independent M L Nattakorn compared to 15 per cent for last year's independent Chuwit Kamolvisit - the reason and motive behind the votes can be completely different.

Unlike last time, when the strength of the candidates was the major deciding factor, several issues came into play in this governor election which ended up influencing the final result. It's true that at the end of the day the Democrat candidate took home the most votes, but the governor-elect must be aware that not all the votes were strictly for him.