KABUL (DPA) — Thousands of protesters marched in Kabul Friday against what they saw as fraud in the June 14 presidential election run-off.

The protesters, mostly Tajiks who supported presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, gathered in hot weather in the city centre, close to the presidential palace.

"We were told yesterday that there would be a demonstration against the election fraud, and we came to Kabul in the early morning to join our brothers," said Mirza Jan, an elderly man from Panjsher province.

Abdullah and some key allies appeared at the protests for the first time, but he not address the crowds.

"There are nearly 10,000 people today," said Mehrab Khan, waving a sign of the Jamiat-e-Islami, one of seven jihadi parties formed in the 1980s.

"Death to election commission officials," "Death to the enemies of Mujahideen," and "Death to Karzai," were among the chants shouted out by protesters.

Kabul police said they had increased their preparedness in case of any sign of violence during the demonstrations.

Abdullah, a former foreign minister in outgoing President Hamid Karzai's administration, is facing Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, Karzai's former finance minister, in the second round of the election.

Abdullah has accused the electoral commission of rigging votes in favour of his rival, and accused Karzai of not remaining impartial in the elections.

Initial results are scheduled to be released on July 2 and the final results are due to be announced on July 22.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Ghani has won, with 59 per cent of the votes.

Abdullah has called on the United Nations to mediate after the disputed poll.

BANGKOK — Thailand’s “independent agencies” continue to investigate former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra a month after her government was deposed in a military coup.

Today, Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said the Election Commission (EC) is investigating a claim that Ms. Yingluck misused the state's apparatus by appearing on national television to defend the government's rice-pledging scheme after she had already dissolved Parliament.

The EC is also probing Ms. Yingluck for visiting supporters in northern and northeastern Thailand prior to the national election on 2 February, Mr. Somchai said. According to the allegation, Ms. Yingluck inappropriately used her position as acting Prime Minister to campaign for her party.

Mr. Somchai said the EC was unable to collect relevant documents to supplement their investigations while anti-government protesters were laying siege to governmental buildings during their six-month campaign to oust Ms. Yingluck. 

Now that the anti-government protests are over, thanks to the 22 May military coup, the EC has successfully collected all the documents, Mr. Somchai said.

"Now we only need to interview some witnesses in the provinces outside Bangkok," he added. 

The EC is also working on a separate case concerning 19 politicians from Ms. Yinglucks’s Pheu Thai Party that appeared on state-owned Channel 11 in the pre-election period, which the EC says is a violation of election laws. 

"The EC will swiftly complete the three cases, because they are of great interest to the people," Mr. Somchai said. "I believe all of the cases could reach a verdict by August."

The 2 Feb election was ultimately nullified in a court ruling because voting did not take place everywhere in the country on the same day after anti-government protesters stormed candidate registration venues, seized ballot boxes, shut down polling stations, and intimidated voters in an attempt to scuttle the election. The protesters argued that unspecified national reforms must be completed before any election could be held.

The EC has not taken any action against the anti-election protesters.

Yingluck's assets revealed

Earlier today the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), who is still investigating Ms. Yingluck over allegations of corruption in connection with her government's rice-pledging policy, released details of the assets held by Ms. Yingluck and nine Cabinet members who were ousted in a court ruling on 7 May.

The NACC routinely publishes the assets of ministers in power, but has said it will not conduct an investigation into the assets of the military junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). A deputy secretary of the NACC claimed there was no legal basis for the NACC to do so.

According to the NACC, Ms Yingluck and her partner Anusorn Amornchat own assets worth 574 million baht, with a debt of 28 million baht. 

The data shows that Ms. Yingluck was the second-richest person in her Cabinet; the richest Minister was former Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who reportedly owns more than 970 million baht in assets. 

The NACC says it is now investigating Ms. Yingluck for allegedly failing to notify the Commission about the existence of her 2.5 million baht luxury watch.

The NACC reportedly intends summon Ms. Yingluck for further questioning concerning the watch.

BANGKOK — The military junta will only achieve short-term gains with its recent blitz of social and economic measures, economists said in a survey published yesterday.

Sixty economists were asked by Bangkok University pollsters to assess the accomplishments of the military junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) since it seized power from the elected government on 22 May.

According to the poll results, 62.5% of economists said the NCPO's works will only achieve short-term gains, while 18.5% believe long-term gains are possible. Ten percent said the NCPO has not solved any problems at all.

Over the past month, the junta has cracked down on taxi mafias, underground casinos, and illegal migrant workers. 

According to respondents, the NCPO is most likely to achieve successful reforms of state enterprises and of migrant workers systems, and least likely to bring about lasting solutions to the widespread issues of illegal gambling and underground lotteries.  

Fifty percent of economists surveyed also believe the NCPO has only temporarily achieved political reconciliation and "decolourisation" of Thai politics, while another 20% say the NCPO has failed completely to tackle these issues.

A majority of those surveyed, 78.3%, believe the NCPO's campaign to return "happiness" to the people will only be successful in teh short term, despite its inundation of happiness-related events, including free concerts, fairs, and movie screenings.  

Half of the respondents said that Thailand is unlikely to achieve the goal of 3% GDP growth by the end of this year.

The economists concluded that the NCPO lacks concrete strategies, solutions, and advisers to tackle the country’s problems, according to the report.

However, chairman of the industry conglomerate Sahapat gave the NCPO "9.9 points out of 10" for its efforts to oversee the country's economy over the past month.

Sahapat chairman Boonyasit Chokewatthana said yesterday that the NCPO has "smoothly" solved many problems with its wide range police measures over the past month. He added that the NCPO should focus on agricultural exports and restoring the national economy, which has slumped after months of political unrest.

Mr. Boonyasit dismissed concerns that Thai exports will be hurt by economic retaliation from western countries that have condemned the coup.

"There are many other countries that are confident about the strength of Thai economy, and willing to trade with Thailand, such as Japan, China, Australia, and African nations," Mr. Boonyasit said. "The US and Europe cannot pressure us. If they don't buy our goods, we won't sell any to them."

"There are many other countries that want Thai goods," Mr. Boonyasit insisted.