On Sunday, Thais are due to vote for a civilian government to replace the military dictatorship which came to power following a bloodless coup in September last year.
The election marks the final phase of an attempt by the coup-makers to roll back politics to the mid-1990s when parties were weak, voters could be ignored and policy was left largely in the hands of bureaucrats subject to the influence of powerful factions.
After ousting popular prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the junta scrapped the bold 1997 constitution. It had been written, with public consultation, to deliver strong government and, in due course, more responsive politics.
The junta's hope is that its new electoral system will produce a weak coalition government. This may come to pass. The conservative Democrat Party, which is likely to come second in the election, might muster a broad, but inevitably weak, coalition with enough seats to form a government.
But it will be a challenge because the People's Power Party is widely expected to poll the most votes, putting it in a position to lead a narrower, but stronger, coalition. It might even win enough votes to overwhelm provisions that stack the odds against a one-party government in the military's gerrymandered electoral system.
People's Power (formed after the effective disbanding of the former ruling party, Thai Rak Thai) is popular because, in the eyes of voters, it represents Thaksin. He is well liked by some in the white-collar minority for his 'can-do' attitude and among the blue-collar majority because of his reforms including affordable health care and credit pools for villages.