Supporters of Pheu Thai Party react after unofficial results that put the pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party in surprise lead. — Reuters photo
BANGKOK: Two major political parties raised doubts yesterday about the accuracy of Thailand’s election results after a party linked to the military took a surprise lead in the popular vote count that suggested the country’s junta chief could remain in power.
One party said it was considering a legal challenge over what it said were poll irregularities and, amid popular dismay over the partial results, the number of signatures on an online petition to impeach the Election Commission leapt by more than 300,000 over a few hours to more than half a million.
Sudarat Keyuraphan
“There are irregularities in this election that we’re not comfortable with. These affect the nation’s credibility and people’s trust,” said Sudarat Keyuraphan, candidate for prime minister of the Pheu Thai Party.
“We’ve voiced our concerns before for vote-buying, abuse of power, and cheating. All three have manifested. We will fight back through legal means,” she told a news conference.
She said her party, which is linked to the military’s nemesis, self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, would join forces with other anti-junta parties to form a government.
It was far from certain that the military’s proxy party would secure enough seats in the 500-seat lower house of parliament for Prayuth Chan-ocha to stay on as prime minister.
Unofficial results of the Southeast Asian nation’s first election since a 2014 coup had been expected at 2pm (0700 GMT) yesterday. However, the Election Commission said it would announce only the winners of 350 seats at 4pm (0900 GMT) and a breakdown of votes for those seats would come on Friday.
Uttama Savanayana
“We have nothing to hide,” the commission’s deputy secretary-general, Nat Laosisawakul, told a news conference.
With around 94 per cent of overall votes counted it appeared that Pheu Thai had fallen far short of expectations, a surprise for many given that Thaksin-allied parties have won every election since 2001. However, it still looked likely to have the largest share of parliamentary seats.
The strong showing by the pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party stunned voters who had hoped the poll would loosen the grip that traditional elites and the military hold on power in a country that has one of the highest measures of inequality in the world.
Amid mounting confusion over the results of the poll, Palang Pracharat’s spokesman told reporters his party was aiming to muster 251 of the lower house’s seats to form a government.
Many Thais took to social media to voice their suspicions about the results of an election that critics had said was systematically skewed in favour of the military from the outset.
Thai-language hashtags that translated as ‘Election Commission screw-up’ and “cheating the election” were trending on Twitter in Thailand.
Many tweets referred to inconsistencies between the numbers for voter turnout and ballots cast in some parliamentary constituencies. Some questioned the overall turnout of less than 70 per cent, which was much lower than expected.
Future Forward, a new party that appears to have made a spectacular election debut thanks to its appeal to young voters, also questioned the poll numbers.
“There are obviously some irregularities with the numbers because they don’t add up. This is making people sceptical of the election results,” said party spokeswoman Pannika Wanich.
“The Election Commission should address this issue because if the people feel they cannot trust the results, there will be more problems to come,” she said.
A change.org petition launched a week ago to impeach the Election Commission had garnered over 511,000 signatures by midafternoon yesterday, up from around 200,000 at the start of the day. — Reuters