They say a majority can get too big and lead to a parliamentary dictatorship

Story by ATIYA ACHAKULWISUT and PLOENPOTE ATTHAKOR

Idealistic their mission may be, but civic and pro-democracy groups are still encouraging people to vote for a balance of power in Sunday's election.

Activists are counting on the opposition _ whichever parties they may be _ to be strong and help defend their causes _ democracy, human rights and public participation.

"We have discussed the matter and we believe there is no escaping that Thai Rak Thai will return to power," said Pibhop Thongchai, adviser to the Campaign for Popular Democracy. "That is why we would like to urge people to cast their vote for counter-balance."

The CPD and other pro-democracy groups have formed an alliance called the People's Alliance for Democracy to urge the public to give at least 201 seats to the political parties that show they are willing to be in opposition and work to keep the government in check.

The constitution stipulates that to forward a motion to censure or impeach the prime minister requires the support of at least 200 MPs.

Mr Pibhop added that at the moment, only the Democrats have shown such a clear stance. Others are keeping their options open.

According to Mr Pibhop, the strategy will benefit every sector. Prime Minister Thaksin and his ruling Thai Rak Thai party are efficient at their work, but suffer from an indulgence of power, conflicts of interest and lack of accountability. A strong opposition will make the government more careful and keep them on track.

As for the Democrats, Mr Pibhop said that the next term will give them a chance to redesign their party so that it matches the present social conditions.

"Our strategy may seem like we are supporting the Democrats but in fact we are not. Looking back, you will see that the civil groups had many problems with the Chuan government. The Democrats have hardly changed. We do not think it is fit to govern."

Mr Pibhop added that the spirit of the constitution calls for a stable government with independent agencies serving duties to help check-and-balance. However, the activists maintain the Thaksin government has crippled and discredited most _ if not all _ the independent mechanisms and civic groups until they could no longer function effectively.

"With the media increasingly controlled by different means, civic and non-governmental organisations have a hard time monitoring the government and reaching the public. That is why we pin our hopes on a strong opposition. At the very least, they can do the monitoring in parliament, with the law to fall back on and within the eyes of the public."

Ravadee Prasertcharoensuk, chair of the NGO Coordinating Committee on Development (Ngo-Cod) agrees. She says eligible voters should aim at choosing good, more efficient opposition parties in order to break political monopoly.

In her view, voters should pay attention to advancing democracy and vote for parties that advocate political development.

As she puts it, it's the ultimate goal of the people's sector to put into power alternative politicians _ those working to strengthen people's economy and community as well as grassroots development.

There may be no perfect ideal parties or candidates, but Ms Ravadee said voters have to choose the best available parties. "It takes other parties to carry out the duty of opposition."

"We should not pin our hopes solely on indirect participation and political parties. We need to monitor politicians closely after the elections, and make sure they make their decisions to the benefit of the people."

The Chiang Mai-based Midnight University groups academics and activists who work on issues of human rights, development and alternative education, and it is more specific about what is needed. Members wrote and distributed 100,000 copies of "Manual to Protect Against Capitalist Dictators in Parliament."

The manual essentially suggests voters avoid voting for any of four dangerous party types: the narrow-minded nationalists, the violent who blindly follow the party leader, the agents of transnational companies seeking to rob Thailand of its resources, and the blindly myopic followers of United States policy on every issue.

"We issued this manual because we believe this election, the second under this constitution, will represent a crucial point of transition for Thai society," said Associate Prof Arthachak Satayanurak of Chiang Mai University.

The group asks voters to support a political party or parties with a platform to redistribute land, end corruption, enact and change laws that hinder or conflict with the constitution, end conflicts of interest, weigh the impact on society and culture as well as the economic benefits of globalisation, push for more and direct democracy, reform education, encourage public interest groups to monitor the government, and generally work to develop a fairer, more equal Thai society.

Fair enough, said prominent scholar Chai-anan Samudavanija, but civil groups, academics and NGOs might need to review their roles and relevance after the election.

"Who represents the people's sector?" he asked.

Mr Chai-anan said the Thaksin government has come up with a set of policies _ call them populist if you like _ that reach down to the public at large, the community and even the individual. These include the village fund, the 30-baht health care insurance and the one-tambon-one-product (Otop) scheme.

"In the past, MPs served as brokers between the government and people," said Mr Chai-anan. "Besides, our politics as usual was marked by parochialism, with the budget concentrated only in certain provinces with influential politicians. What the Thaksin government did, however, was cast wide-net policies that cover basically every family in the whole country."

In addition, the TRT, which is likely to become government again, highlights a campaign to end poverty for its next term. That means the people's sector _ the public themselves _ are the target and recipient of the government's policy.

"For these reasons, voters only have to assess the efficacy of these policies, whether their life is different before and after they came into effect, to know which party they would want to choose."