Thailand readies for poll unlikely to end divisions

By Nopporn Wong-Anan

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai politicians wrapped up their campaigns on Saturday on the eve of a general election unlikely to resolve deep divisions since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup last year.

All polls point to a sizeable victory for the People Power Party (PPP), a vehicle for supporters of Thaksin, although the PPP is not expected to win an outright majority and be able to govern alone, analysts say.

Just as unlikely is the army and the royalist establishment allowing the PPP, which has made bringing the still wildly popular Thaksin back from exile its main priority, to form a ruling coalition with "middle ground" minor parties.

The PPP, which has embraced populist policies that won Thaksin two landslide election victories, urged voters at a rally on Friday to bring Thaksin back from self-exile in London by giving the party a majority in the 480-seat parliament.

"If the PPP doesn't win more than half, Thaksin can't return," party candidate Chalerm Yubamrung told more than 10,000 supporters in Bangkok.

Chalerm said he had spoken to Thaksin, who is watching the election from Hong Kong, and believed the former premier would return to Thailand on Feb. 14. He gave no further details.

In a letter posted on a pro-Thaksin Web site on Saturday, Thaksin urged Thais to accept the outcome of the election being held 15 months after the military removed him.

"We may have had different ideas, but from December 23 I would like to ask my Thai brothers and sisters to bury the hatchet," he said on www.truethaksin.com.