2023-05-18 21:27:15
Thailand’s election winner presented a coalition of eight parties on Thursday. Pita Limjaroenrat of the Move Forward Party, which emerged as the strongest party in the elections, announced that the coalition agreement would be signed on Monday.The date is symbolic as it marks the ninth anniversary of the military coup. Since then, former General Prayut Chan-ocha has led the government in Thailand. However, his camp came out far behind in the election on Sunday.
According to reports in the Thai press, the eight parties together have 313 seats. With 500 seats in the House of Representatives, that would be an absolute majority. However, the number of votes is not enough for the 42-year-old Harvard graduate Pit Limjaroenrat to be elected prime minister. The 250 senators appointed by the military also have a say in this. However, the politician was confident that he would get the necessary number of at least 376 votes. A committee is in charge of the negotiations.
A setback for the party was the rejection of the third-placed Bhumjaithai party, which belongs to the voted-off governing coalition and, according to the preliminary result, had won 70 seats in the election. She had stated that she would not join any party seeking to amend the strict Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which provides for up to 15 years in prison for lese-majeste. With the demand, Move Forward went further than other opposition parties. This point is now becoming a contentious issue in the coalition negotiations.
The second-placed Pheu Thai party has also positioned itself more cautiously on this issue. Pheu Thai, led by exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, brings 141 seats to the coalition, compared to Move Forward’s 151 seats. She was overthrown in a military coup in 2014. Their lead candidate was Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of party patriarch Thaksin. The billionaire ex-prime minister has reiterated his intention to return to Thailand before his 74th birthday in July. There he could face jail for a previous conviction for corruption.
#Thailand #eightparty #coalition