Move Forward’s leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, claimed victory on Monday after the pro-democracy party won the largest number of seats in Sunday’s election, confirming that the party will establish a coalition government with other former opposition groups, including Pheu Thai.
Monday’s unofficial results from the Election Commission of Thailand show that the Move Forward party has won a majority of seats with a total of 151 (112 constituency seats and 39 ‘party-list’ seats), whereas the prior dominant Pheu Thai party won 141 seats (112 constituency seats and 29 ‘party-list’ seats).
In the popular vote, the progressive Move Forward Party received over 14.1 million votes, surpassing Pheu Thai’s total of 10.7 million.
Pita (42) announced at a press conference that the party will form a “majority” coalition government with the Pheu Thai, Thai Sang Thai, Thai Liberal, Prachachat, and Fair parties, which hold a combined total of 309 seats.
Even though they have won over half of the seats, the military’s 250 appointed to the Senate still pose a threat since they can block the prime minister’s nomination.
The Election Commission also reported that a record-breaking 39.29 million Thai voters cast ballots on Sunday, accounting for 75.22% of all eligible voters across the country.
