Sweeping election victory for Thailand's pro-democracy opposition

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's pro-democracy opposition parties have won a sweeping victory in the parliamentary elections on Monday, reported German news agency (dpa).

The winner is the progressive Move Forward party under its 42-year-old leader Pita Limjaroenrat, according to preliminary results.

After counting 99 per cent of the votes, the party, founded in 2014, appears to have won a total of around 150 seats in the 500-strong Parliament, according to the election commission.

The reform-oriented Pheu Thai of 36-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra, also an opposition party, appears to have come in second and is projected to have won some 140 seats. The businesswoman is the daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In the run-up to the election, Peu Thai had been ahead in the polls for months.

A coalition between Move Forward and Pheu Thai is likely, but they would need the support of other parties to get into power.

The United Thai Nation Party of incumbent prime minister and former coup general Prayut Chan-o-cha, which came into power after a coup in 2014, looked set for heavy losses. The 69-year-old could, nonetheless, remain in power.

After the military coup in 2014, the generals changed the Constitution in their favour. Together with the 500 newly-elected parliamentarians, 250 unelected senators appointed by the military also decide on the future head of government. It is considered unlikely that they would support an opposition candidate.

According to observers, Thailand could face protests again if the election of the head of government does not reflect the will of the people.

Fears of a possible new military coup in the wake of the polls were allayed by Army chief Narongpan Jittkaewtae.

There will not be another military coup under his leadership, people should remove the term from their vocabulary, he said. The kingdom has seen more than a dozen coups since the 1930s. - BERNAMA-dpa