Bangkok: Thailand’s main opposition parties have won a landslide victory in Sunday’s general election. It is seen as a significant opportunity for change nine years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha came to power in a 2014 coup. With 99 percent of the votes counted as of Monday morning, the opposition Move Forward Party has gained a small lead over another opposition party, the Phayu Thai Party. However, it cannot be said that the winner of Sunday’s election will be able to form the government. A joint session of the 500-member House of Representatives and the 250-member Senate will be called in July to elect a new prime minister. The process is widely considered undemocratic because senators are selected by the military.
Nearly 75 percent of registered voters cast their votes in Sunday’s polling. The Move Forward Party won a little over 24 percent of the vote for the House of Representatives, while the Pheu Thai Party won 23 percent. According to the Election Commission, the Move Forward Party won 113 seats while the Phayu Thai Party won 112 seats. Outgoing Prime Minister Prayut Chan Ocha’s United Thai National Party is in fifth place with nearly nine percent of the vote.
In the pre-poll survey, three parties were expected to lead the new government. The 36-year-old daughter of former billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was voted the country’s prime minister by most people in pre-election polls. Thaksin was ousted from power in a military coup in 2006. His relative Yingluck Shinawatra became prime minister in 2011, but was ousted in a coup led by Prayuth.
The Phayu Thai Party won the most seats in the 2019 election, but its arch-rival and military-backed Palang Pracharat Party forged an alliance with Prayut. Now the leader of Move Forward, 42-year-old businessman Pita Limjaroenrat, also appears to be a prime ministerial candidate. Prime Minister Prayut has been accused of failing to address a faltering economy, his handling of the pandemic, and thwarting democratic reforms.
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