Thai Opposition claims victory as voters reject army-backed parties

BANGKOK, AFP: Thailand’s progressive Move Forward Party claimed victory in the country’s election Monday after a stunning result that decimated military-backed parties, which have ruled the kingdom for nearly a decade.

A massive surge for Move Forward (MFP) in Sunday’s ballot left it on course to be the biggest party, followed by its rival Opposition – the Pheu Thai movement of billionaire ex-Premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thai voters turned out in record numbers to deliver a brutal verdict on former coup leader Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who has been blamed for economic stagnation and a crackdown on rights.

MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat said he would seek to build a six-party coalition including Pheu Thai, which said it was ready to join, though negotiations of the details have not yet begun.

“I am Pita Limjaroenrat, the next Prime Minister of Thailand,” he told reporters at the MFP headquarters in Bangkok.

“We are ready to form the Government,” he added, vowing to be a “Prime Minister for all”.

Pita said he had called Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai’s leading Prime ministerial candidate to congratulate her on her campaign and invite her to join the coalition.

Between them, MFP and Pheu Thai are expected to take 292 out of 500 seats in the lower house, with the two main army-allied parties mustering just 76 seats in total.

But in a kingdom where coups and court orders have often trumped the ballot box, there are fears that the result may yet be thwarted.

This election was the first since 2020 protests that demanded curbs on the power and spending of Thailand’s king.