“Thai Parliamentary Elections: Opposition Leading, Uncertainty Looms for Incumbent Prime Minister”

2023-05-14 16:51:40

As of: 05/14/2023 6:51 p.m

According to the first counts, there are signs that the opposition will be successful in the parliamentary elections in Thailand. But it is not yet certain that the incumbent head of government and former putsch general Prayut will be voted out of office.

According to initial and preliminary results, the opposition is ahead in the parliamentary elections in Thailand. According to the election commission, the party “Pheu Thai” led with its top candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra. In second place was the opposition party “Move Forward”.

As the newspaper “Bangkok Post” reports, both parties together get more than 60 percent of the votes. “According to the numbers we are seeing, ‘Pheu Thai’ and ‘Move Forward’ and other opposition parties can form a coalition government,” said Move Forward chief Pita Limjaroenrat.

In polls, the opposition is well ahead of incumbent Prayut, who seized power years ago.
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A change of government also depends on the Senate

However, an election victory for the opposition would not necessarily mean that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would be voted out of the party “The United Thai Nation”. After the military coup in 2014, a constitutional amendment was introduced, according to which the head of government is determined by the 500 elected members of parliament and 250 unelected and military-appointed senators.

These are considered loyal to the former supreme commander of the Thai army, today’s Prime Minister Prayut. The winner needs at least 376 votes. It is considered unlikely that one party alone has so many votes. The official final result must be announced within 60 days.

Prime Minister Prayut had been suspended, he had reached the end of his term.
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“Old system and Liberalization”

Experts see the parliamentary elections as a showdown between conservative and progressive forces. Ben Kiatkwankul from the Maverick Consulting Group spoke of a power struggle between the old system and liberalization announced by the opposition.

For the past nine years, Thailand has been ruled by the military or by a cabinet sponsored by the military. Twice in eight years, the military toppled governments controlled by the billionaire Shinawatra family. The family is also the driving force behind the Pheu Thai party, with its lead candidate, 36-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

She is the youngest daughter of former and controversial Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown by the military in 2006. In 2014, her aunt Yingluck met the same fate.

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