The two largest parties agree to form a coalition.

The leader of the Pheu Thai party said the party agrees with the proposal to form a coalition with the opposition Forward Party (MFP) and affirmed that there are no plans to form a government with another party.

Bau cu Thai Lan: Hai dang lon nhat chap thuan thanh lap lien minh hinh anh 1 MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat at a press conference in Bangkok, May 14, 2023. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Speaking at a press conference following the announcement of preliminary results from Thailand's general election on May 15, the leader of the Pheu Thai Party stated that the party agreed to the proposal to form a coalition with the opposition Forward Party (MFP) and affirmed that it had no plans to form a government with any other political party.

The Pheu Thai party leader also stated that with 309 seats in the Thai Parliament , the coalition has sufficient capacity to form a stable government, but the nomination of a prime minister depends on legal factors.

Hours earlier, MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat said he would seek to form a six-party coalition, including the Pheu Thai party .

The 42-year-old politician announced that he had contacted Paetongtarn Shinawatra, one of the Pheu Thai party's prime ministerial candidates, to invite her to join a coalition to form a new government.

At the same time, Mr. Pita also affirmed his readiness to form a new government and become the next Prime Minister of Thailand.

At noon on May 15th, the Thai Election Commission (EC) announced that the vote count was complete, with opposition parties including the MFP winning 152 seats and the Pheu Thai Party winning 141 seats, while the main parties in the current ruling coalition, the Bhumjaithai Party, won 70 seats and the PPRP Party won 40 seats.

Notably, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha's United Thai National Party (UTN) only came in fifth with 23 seats, while the Democrat Party secured 25 seats.

EC President Ittiporn Boonpracong said that voter turnout in this election reached 75.22%, higher than the record of 75.03% in the 2011 election.

In a related development, Jurin Laksanawisit resigned as leader of the Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest political party, to take responsibility for the party's poor performance in the May 14 general election.

In a late-night Line message to Democratic Party members on May 14, Jurin congratulated the party's candidates on winning seats and thanked former party leaders Chuan Leekpai and Abhisit Vejjajiva, members of the executive board, and loyal party members for their support.

He said he had submitted his resignation as party leader, adding that he would remain with the party if the opportunity arose.

Four years after the shock of failing to win any seats in Bangkok, the capital with the most parliamentary constituencies in the country, in the 2019 election, which led to the resignation of then-party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrat Party repeated this poor performance by again going home empty-handed in the capital in this year's election.

Duc Trung (VNA/Vietnam+)

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