Thailand’s reformist opposition has won the highest number of seats and the largest share of the popular vote in the Sunday’s general election.
Projection
With almost 99% of the votes counted on Monday, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and the populist Pheu Thai Party are projected to win about 286 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.
The MFP has taken the biggest share of the Lower House with 151 seats, preliminary results published on the election commission website showed.
This includes 112 seats from the 400 that are directly elected, and 35 from the 100 seats allocated to parties on a proportional basis.
Thailand's opposition parties Move Forward and Pheu Thai won the most seats in parliamentary election, paving the way for a challenge to the military-backed government, which has been in power for nearly a decade https://t.co/ToM9Z2yMlP pic.twitter.com/86IR47Bnki
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 15, 2023
Mandate
The MFP — a progressive youth-led party that contested the general elections for the first time — competed on a bold but popular platform of reforming the country’s controversial lèse-majesté law, which criminalises any criticism of the monarchy, and limiting the power of the military by amending the constitution. It has also promised to do away with forced conscription.
Meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly rejected the military-backed parties that have ruled the country for nearly a decade.
The United Thai Nation Party of incumbent PM Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power during a 2014 military coup, trailed fifth with only 36 seats. Similarly, his former party, the Palang Pracharath came in fourth with about 40 seats.
Uncertain Future
However, it remains uncertain whether the two leading parties will be able to form the next government due to parliamentary rules allowing 250 members of a military-appointed Senate to vote on the new PM.
This could force the MFP and Pheu Thai to seek the support of smaller parties to form a new government.