Thailand’s official election results due this week are set to boost a push by a pro-military party to form a governing coalition, unless an imminent court ruling complicates the picture.The party, Palang Pracharath, is a proxy for the military government and is duelling for power with an anti-junta alliance.
A coup leader triumphs as a civilian prime minister, an alliance of parties unite to stop him, or a parliamentary deadlock forces another political crisis – the outcome of Thailand's disputed election remains undecided a week after the poll.So, what next?
Several anti-military candidates in Thailand lodged fresh complaints with the Election Commission Friday over bungled tallies and alleged vote-buying following a controversial ballot that has left politics in the junta-ruled kingdom in limbo.A military-backed party and its main rival led by an exiled billionaire have both claimed the right to lead the government in the wake of Sunday's polls, with official final tallies delayed for weeks. Candidates from at least two parties iss
Seven political parties formed a coalition in Thailand on Wednesday, vowing to thwart a military-backed proxy in a bid to end years of junta rule following the country's 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's vote, prompting a political standoff.Questions over irregularities are swirling following invalidated ballots and accusations of skewed numbers.Pheu Thai, affiliated with self-ex
Thai pro-democracy factions on Tuesday moved to unite and thwart a junta-backed party from forming a government after the first election since a 2014 coup.The junta appeared to be in pole position to return to power as a civilian administration after preliminary results from Sunday's poll showed its proxy party had secured an unexpected majority of the popular vote.Around 7.6 million votes went to Phalang Pracharath with 94 percent of ballots tallied, the Election Commission has said.Tha
Thailand's ruling junta took an unexpected lead in the country's first election since a 2014 coup with more than 90 percent of ballots counted, election authorities said late Sunday, putting it on course to return to power at the expense of the kingdom's pro-democracy camp.The election, which saw an insipid 64 percent turnout, was held under new laws written by the military to smooth its transformation into a civilian government.While it had set the rules of the game in its fav
Parties for and against Thailand's military junta rallied across Bangkok on Friday, as election fever gripped the country ahead of its first poll in eight years.The boisterous final push before the 24 March showdown was infused with rarely seen levels of excitement and backlit by symbolism from afar, with the family of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra holding a politically star-studded wedding in Hong Kong on the same night.The generals who seized power in 2014 are hoping to hold on through
With elections mere days away, the number of parties contesting for the hearts and minds of Thai voters is overwhelming. The Pheu Thai Party has formed several splinter parties with all of them vying for seats.
More than 2.2 million Thais turned out for early voting – almost 90 percent of those registered – for Thailand's hotly anticipated national election, as the junta's main opposition predicted a cliff-hanger to the first poll in eight years.The 2011 election had a 55 percent turnout for advanced voting, bringing about 1.4 million early to the ballot box.
A key party linked to Thailand's powerful Shinawatra clan was dissolved Thursday by a court, just weeks before a general election, over its ill-starred bid to front a princess as a candidate for premier.Thai Raksa Chart, which is tied to ex-premiers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, proposed Princess Ubolratana as its prime ministerial candidate if its bloc emerged with a lower house majority after the 24 March election.It was an unprecedented move in a constitutional monarchy where royal
Junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha's grip on power was tossed into doubt by the political cameo of a princess, but a week later his ambitions to rebrand as a civilian leader appear back on track, a survivor – for now – of Thailand's treacherous politics.Princess Ubolratana's candidacy for premier for a party aligned with billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, appeared to have kicked over a totem of Thai politics: that the military alone is the unassailable partner of the monarch
