Unofficial result shows Thai oppn parties win majority seats in general election

Bangkok, May 15

Unofficial result of the THai general election showed the opposition parties have won the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament, the Election Commission said Monday.

As of 99.18 per cent vote counting which is completed so far, the two major opposition parties, the Move Forward Party and the Pheu Thai Party each captured 112 seats out of the 400 constituency seats in the House of Representatives, Ittiporn Boonpracong, chairman of the Election Commission, told a press conference on Monday.

The Move Forward Party and Pheu Thai also secured around two-thirds of the 100 party-list seats decided in a separate poll, which put the two opposition parties well over the 250-seat threshold for a simple majority in the lower house of parliament, reports Xinhua news agency.

The two parties are yet to announce a partnership to seek to form a government.

More than 75 per cent of the 52 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the election on Sunday, according to the Election Commission.

Under the two-ballot system with one vote for the 400 constituency members of parliament (MPs) and another for their preferred party vying for the 100 party-list MPs, voters will elect a total of 500 members to the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party (United Thai Nation Party) took 23 constituency seats but was ranked third in the party-list poll with some 4.6 million votes.

Ittiporn said the Election Commission will conduct verification and is expected to announce the official election results within 60 days.

Meanwhile, the political parties are expected to start negotiations to form a coalition as the new Prime Minister will need to secure a simple majority from the 500 MPs as well as the 250 senators in accordance with the 2017 constitution.