Political Limbo: Thai Court Chucks Election Results

BANGKOK -- A political crisis continues to rock Thailand. A Thai court threw out the results of the nation's recent general election, a sign the country's political crisis is far from over.

Anti-government protesters viewed the constitutional court ruling as a victory for thousands of the Thai nationals.

Last February, they blocked candidate registrations and caused the close of 10 percent of the country's Election Day polling.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra scheduled the snap vote in a bid to appease angry demonstrators who want her out of office.

The uprising began in earnest after she signed a bill that would have given her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, amnesty from corruption charges. A Thai court ruled her action illegal.

Yingluck's government is still pressing for new elections, but the opposition says they'll boycott the initiative and prevent it from happening. They want an unelected people's council to make reforms before new elections are held. The protestors say they're tired of government corruption.

Yingluck, meanwhile, is facing a series of legal challenges, including negligence from a rice pledging scheme, which could lead to her removal from office.

"Rice pledging is the government pawned rice stocks above the market price, but this program became disastrous because the government could not give money to the farmers," Chulalongkorn University political analyst Dr. Surat Horachaikul told CBN News.

Now many farmers are upset because they have not received money for the past six months. The crisis prompted some farmers to protest by camping out in tents in the middle of Bangkok.

"We will fight till the end," a farmer named Verayuth vowed. "Anyway, we have nothing to lose because our business is already bankrupt."

Much more time and sacrifice may be needed to reform Thailand, but many Thai people are hopeful the present political crisis can help the country transition to a real democracy.

Many Thai people are looking to their beloved king to help solve the political stalemate.