Thailand’s Election Commission has set the country’s general election for May 14, according to polls, with the opposition Phua Thai party backed by Thaksin Shinawatra in the lead
Thailand’s general election will be held on May 14, the country’s election commission said, a day after the dissolution of parliament initiated by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is seeking a new term, Thai Public Broadcasting Service reported. The Election Commission said candidate registration begins on April 3.
The election pits the popular opposition party Phua Thai, backed by billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, against parties representing the conservative establishment and closely linked to the military, which has staged two coups in the past two decades. Other parties are likely to win enough seats to be invited to join a coalition government.
Prayuth dissolved parliament shortly before the end of the four-year term of the House of Representatives. The early dissolution allows candidates for the lower house to change party affiliation just 30 days before an election, instead of the usual 90 days.
Parties led and backed by Thaksin have won the most seats in all elections since 2001, but they are fiercely opposed by conservatives, who have undermined several governments led by Thaksin and allies using legal judicial decisions and military coups in 2006 and 2014.
The main prime ministerial candidate for Phua Thais is Thaksin’s 36-year-old daughter, Paetongtharn Chinawat, who is the most popular by a wide margin, according to polls.
Prayut, who is 69, took the top job for the first time after staging a coup as army commander in 2014, ousting Yingluck’s elected government. Prayut did not contest the 2019 elections but was chosen by parliament to become prime minister after winning the support of the army-affiliated People’s State Power Party of Thailand (Palang Pracharath).
More than 52 million people are eligible to vote in 400 constituencies. Four hundred seats will be decided by a majoritarian race in each constituency. A separate party preference vote will determine the remaining 100 members of the House on national party lists.
The prime minister is chosen by a vote in a combined session of the newly elected lower house and the 250-member Senate, a conservative body whose members are appointed.
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