Thai opposition parties join forces to form new government

Thailand's two most prominent opposition parties, Move Forward and Pheu Thai, have agreed to form a ruling coalition after defeating the military-backed party in last weekend's House of Representatives elections.

Both Forward and Pheu Thai secured the votes they sought against the Thai military-backed parties. However, the Thai opposition still faces challenges in gaining support from other parties to form a governing coalition.

Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward party. (Photo: Reuters)

Thailand's opposition coalition needs to secure enough seats to form a new government or it will be blocked by the military- appointed Senate.

Thailand's two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives (between 500 and 250, respectively), will vote for the prime minister in a joint session next July, but the Senate is heavily biased in favor of conservatives and military-backed parties.

In his victory declaration on May 15, Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Forward, proposed a six-party governing coalition that would control 309 seats in the lower house, with him as prime minister. However, this is still more than 60 seats short of the 376 seats needed to ensure Mr. Limjaroenrat is elected prime minister.

Asked about pressure from the Senate, he said all parties must respect the election results and there was no point in fighting it.

"I'm not worried but I'm not careless either," Pita Limjaroenrat said at a press conference.

"There will be a heavy price to pay if someone is thinking of overturning the election results or forming a minority government ," Pita Limjaroenrat stressed.

The Pheu Thai Party, controlled by the billionaire Shinawatra family, said it agreed with Mr Pita's proposal and wished the Forward Party leader good luck.

Pheu Thai leaders expressed confidence that the 309-seat coalition in the House of Representatives is enough to form a stable government.

In addition to Pheu Thai and Forward, this alliance also includes the Prachachat, Thai Sang Thai and Thai Freedom parties.

Tra Khanh (Source: Reuters)

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Source: https://vtc.vn/cac-dang-doi-lap-thai-lan-lien-minh-lap-chinh-phu-moi-ar772843.html