After Sunday's Bangkok council and district elections voted the Democrats into 35 out of 57 city council seats and 176 of 255 district posts, the winning party is hoping for a similar result in the nationwide elections on October 15.
Although the triumphant Democrats were "very pleased" with the election outcome, the party's leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, said: “The results of the local elections are not considered an indication of the vote in the general election,”
Thai Rak Thai deputy leader Sudarat Keyuraphan believes Sundya's low voter turnout contributed to the Democrats victory with less than 50 percent of eligible voters taking part in the municipal elections.
With a poor result of 18 council and 71 district positions, the former ruling party are filing a complaint to the Election Commission, accusing the Democrats of vote-buying and other election malpractices.
Meanwhile, Criminal Court judges have sentenced three Election Commissioners to four years in jail and revoked their right to vote for 10 years for holding the April 23 by-elections that was held to favour Thai Rak Thai candidates.
