BANGKOK: Thailand’s two major opposition parties took a strong lead in the popular voting as early election results trickled in Sunday, with the military-backed party of Prime Minister (PM) Prayut Chan-o-Cha trailing in third.
According to the Election Commission, with ballots counted from just over a quarter of polling stations, the reformist Move Forward Party was on nearly 2 million votes, followed by the Pheu Thai party on 1.8 million.
The numbers are mainly in line with pre-election opinion surveys, which predicted success for the opposition and a big defeat for Prayut.
Pheu Thai is the latest iteration of the political movement founded by billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra that has dominated Thai elections for 2 decades.
But MFP has grown rapidly, fueled by the youth-led protests across Bangkok in 2020 to demand democratic change and reforms to the country’s untouchable monarchy. Prayut’s United Thai Nation party lay in 3rd place with nearly 700,000 votes.
Opposition still faces challenge
Pheu Thai and MFP still face a tough battle to take power because the prime minister will be chosen not just by the five hundred elected MPs but also by 250 senate members handpicked by the last military government.
Thailand has seen a dozen military coups since 1932, and there are fears that an unclear or disputed result could lead to fresh army intervention or street protests. –AFP
