Legislative Elections May Embarrass Thai Government
government party may notajority in the firstelections held under the new Thai constitution.
Tha ailitary-donir.atedirst lower housetan years. The upperappointed by the^usteek to gothe balloting onheana (SPT) Party is stillgetting itself organized.
The party's first public rally in the Bangkok area, which hasf the lowereats, endedinor fiasco last week when poorly prepared SPT speakers were hooted off the platform. Government leaders had puttrong ticket
in Bangkok in hopes of cutting into the opposition Democratic Party's traditional strength in the capital.
The SPT does not appear to be faring much better outside Bangkok. In the countryside the party seems beset with internal bickering, much of which stemsractious party meeting in Bangkok last Novemberplit in the ranks was onlyaverted. In some provinces, SPT candidates are working at
cross purposes; in others, the original SPT candidates have quit the party in order to run as.
Despite its erraticthe SPT is the only party organizedational basis and whichandidate for every lower house seat. The party's woes are also mitigated to some extent by the fragmented nature of the opposition. The middle-of-the-road Democrats, whose organizational skill and party discipline are the major surprises of the campaign, are not expected even by their most optimistic supporters to win more than one third of the seats. The other splinter parties, most of them regionally based, appear to be running according to form, while independentmany of whom apparently havelocalconsiderable strength.
The combined oppositionto have an excellent chance of denying theajority in the lower house. Recentby government leaders, pointing out that the'lower house's powers are carefully circumscribed, indicate that Thailand'sleadership is aware that it may not get the popularhoped for in the elections.
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Leadership Turnout Masks Continuing Dissension in China
the top Chinese leaders appeared together publicly onanuary for the first tine in threealf monthsally, held in part to dispel widespread rumors within China about Mao's health and changes in the leadership.
Alln the politicalwere present, for Peking's display of unity. The onlyin the top rankslight further demotion forplanner Li Fu-chun, who was criticized andwas dropped from thecircle. The turnout thus sheds no light on the political infighting believed to be taking place behind the scenes inof the ninth party congress, now expected within the next few months.
The necessary political alignments in some provinces are
still not firm. In Sinkiang, for example, local broadcasts have
for weeks beeneader easily identifiable as Wang En-mao, the former military and party boss there. Wangshowed up in Peking among important regional military The position of his name, immediatelyroup of Nanking Military Region officers, could imply that he has been transferred.
Peking's latest concern over the political reliability ofcommands in the provinces is reflectedecentby the central committee's Military Affairs Commission about
strengthening unity between "army and government." Because local government units nearly everywhere are dominated by militarythis directive carries the implication that splits are developing within the military, between those who have assumedresponsibility and those who lack It.
In Kweichow Province, tronghold of radical militaryrecent radiobroadcasts criticised some local military districts for "mishandling"with the government, and stated that new military units have beer, transferred into the province. It is not clear whether they were to reinforce theestablishment now running Kweichow, or to weaken its
Reflections of political struggle continue to be noted in some other provinces. Outbreaks of fighting at Hsuchou, reported periodically since Januaryrobablyurisdictional conflict between the Nanking and the neighboring Tsinan military commands. The Nanking commander, who also heads the Kiangsuhas civil responsibility for the province, but regular army units under the command of the Tsinan Military Region control the Hsuchou area. Earlier in the Culturalthe two military commanders seemed to be politically opposed, and in8 the Nankingcommander publicly criticized the Tsinan Military Region forandling conditions in Hsuchou.
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