New Thai group aims to take govt
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seven political parties formed a coalition in Thailand yesterday, vowing to thwart a military-backed proxy in a bid to end years of junta rule following the country鈥檚 first election since a 2014 coup.
A junta-aligned party and its main rival have both claimed the right to govern the country after Sunday鈥檚 vote, prompting a political standoff.
Questions over irregularities are swirling following invalidated ballots and accusations of skewed numbers.
Pheu Thai, affiliated with self-exiled former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, joined forces with six other parties in a bid to halt military-backed factions from leading the country.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai鈥檚 prime ministerial candidate, said they want to stop the government from hanging onto power.
鈥淧ro-democracy parties received the most trust and consensus by the people,鈥 she added, conceding that final results have not yet been released.
Thailand has been ruled by a junta since a 2014 putsch led by General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, the prime ministerial candidate for the Phalang Pracharat Party. But Phalang Pracharat stunned the pro-democracy camp by winning the popular vote on Sunday with 7.6 million ballots, according to preliminary results.
Its main rival Pheu Thai got 400,000 fewer votes, but is now aiming to take the majority of seats in the lower house with its newly formed coalition.
The seven-party bloc claimed it would take 255 out of the 500 lower-house seats that are up for grabs, but with all official results yet to be confirmed the numbers are not iron-clad.
Pheu Thai is linked to Thaksin and his sister, Yingluck, whose administration was ousted in the 2014 coup. Although Thaksin fled abroad in 2008 to avoid charges he says are politically motivated, he looms large over Thai politics.
Earlier this week he said the election was rigged.
Late yesterday, he said on Twitter that he was 鈥済lad for Thailand that the democratic side can gather the voices鈥 for more than half the seats.
A clearer picture of the lower house could emerge as early as tomorrow, when more comprehensive figures are expected to be released.
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