After years of extremely conservative politics, a fresh breeze is blowing through Thailand: the pro-democracy opposition has won the parliamentary elections by a landslide.
Thailand is facing major political changes: The pro-democracy opposition clearly won the eagerly awaited parliamentary elections and dealt the ruling military a crushing defeat. According to political observers, it was mainly young voters who flocked to the polls on Sunday that helped the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) win. The next prime minister is likely to be charismatic party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, after his party won 151 seats in the 500-seat parliament. However, there are still a few hurdles to overcome.
Another opposition party, the reform-oriented Pheu Thai, came in a good second place with 141 seats. Their top candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra (36) has also been able to hope for the post of head of government in recent weeks thanks to consistently good poll results.
She comes from an extremely wealthy political dynasty: Her father and aunt were both in power in Thailand – but now live in exile after being overthrown in military coups. Paetongtarn has already signaled that she is open to a coalition with the Move Forward Party: “We can work together.”
How will the military react?
However, Pita Limjaroenrat still needs to get other, smaller parties on board in order to make the leap to power. Speaking to journalists on Monday, he was optimistic: “The Move Forward Party is ready to lead the next government and I am ready to become the new prime minister.”
Whether the military under the incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (69) will withdraw without a fight remains to be seen. After the coup of 2014, the generals changed the constitution in their favor: Along with the 500 newly elected MPs, 250 unelected senators appointed by the military also decide on the head of government. It is doubtful that they will support the opposition.
“It wouldn’t make sense if they went against the will of the people,” the election winner is convinced. “The time of military coups is over.” Most Thais hope so, but it would be a novelty: there have been more than a dozen coups since the 1930s.
“Winds of Change”
The newspaper “Bangkok Post” had already announced before the election that the “winds of change” were blowing through the kingdom. The Move Forward party is campaigning, among other things, for the abolition of conscription and reform of the monarchy – the subject was taboo for many years. The popular holiday destination has what is probably the toughest lèse majesté law in the world, which provides for extremely long prison sentences for lèse majesté. There have been protests against this for a long time.
“There is a real desire for reform among voters that cannot be ignored,” Celine-Agathe Caro, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Thailand office, told dpa. The good news is: “All parties seem to accept the first official result of the parliamentary elections as legitimate.” Wanwichit Boonprong, lecturer in political science at Rangsit University in Pathum Thani, is convinced that the road will not be easy: the future governing coalition will certainly have to make many compromises in order to be able to govern, he told the Bangkok Post.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
