Rivals voice suspicions as Thailand's pro-army party leads election race

[webfact]

Rivals voice suspicions as Thailand's pro-army party leads election race

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

Uttama Savanayana, Palang Pracharat Party leader, holds a news conference during the general election in Bangkok, Thailand, March 24, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two major political parties raised doubts on Monday about the results of Thailand's general election after a party linked to the military took a surprise lead in the popular vote that suggested the country's junta chief will remain in power.

 

It was still not certain that the military's proxy party would secure enough seats in the lower house of parliament for Prayuth Chan-ocha to stay on as prime minister.

 

Unofficial results of Thailand's first election since a 2014 coup will be announced at 2 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Monday.

 

With around 94 percent of overall votes counted it was clear that Pheu Thai, a party linked to the self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra whose loyalists have won every election since 2001, had fallen far short of expectations. However, it still looked likely to have the largest share of parliament seats.

 

The strong showing by the pro-junta Palang Pracharat stunned voters who had hoped the poll would loosen the grip that traditional elites and the military hold on power in a country that has one of the highest measures of inequality in the world.

 

Many took to social media to voice their suspicions about the results of an election that critics had said was systematically skewed in favour of the military from the outset.

 

Thai-language hashtags that translated as "Election Commission screw-up" and "cheating the election" were trending at numbers one and three on Twitter in Thailand.

 

Many tweets referred to inconsistencies between the numbers for voter turnout and ballots cast in some parliamentary constituencies. Some questioned the overall turnout of less than 70 percent, which was much lower than expected.

 

'OBVIOUSLY SOME IRREGULARITIES'

"There is suspicion about extra ballots where the number of ballots was higher than the number of voters in some districts," said Pheu Thai Party spokeswoman Ladawan Wongsriwong. "There is also suspicion about reports of vote-buying."

 

She said the party's legal team was considering whether to submit complaints to the Election Commission.

 

Future Forward, a new party that appears to have made a spectacular election debut thanks to its appeal to young voters, also questioned the poll numbers.

 

"There are obviously some irregularities with the numbers because they don't add up. This is making people sceptical of the election results," said party spokeswoman Pannika Wanich.

 

"The Election Commission should address this issue because if the people feel they cannot trust the results, there will be more problems to come," she said.

 

A spokesman for Palang Pracharat declined to comment immediately on the concerns of his party's rivals.

 

Jarungwit Pumma, secretary-general of the Election Commission, declined to comment and said questions about the results would be addressed at a news conference later on Monday.

 

DECK STACKED FOR MILITARY

The commission had planned to announce the unofficial results for the 500-seat lower House of Representatives on Sunday evening but said, without giving a reason, its announcement had been delayed until Monday.

 

With 94 percent of overall votes counted, the commission reported that the pro-junta Palang Pracharat was leading with 7.69 million votes. The Thaksin-linked Pheu Thai Party trailed with 7.23 million votes.

 

The popular vote numbers did not reflect parliamentary constituency seats won. Pheu Thai could still take the lion's share of these, which are decided on a first-past-the-post basis, because of its popularity in the north and northeast of the country.

 

Based on a Reuters tally of partial results of the 350 constituency seats contested on Sunday, Pheu Thai was on track to win at least 129 and Palang Pracharat at least 102.

 

Another 150 "party list" seats in the lower house will be allocated under a complex proportional representation formula.

 

However, Prayuth looked in a good position to remain in office thanks to a new, junta-devised electoral system.

 

The lower house and the upper house Senate, whose 250 members are appointed by the junta, will together select the next prime minister.

 

That means Prayuth's party and allies have to win only 126 seats in the lower house, while Pheu Thai and its potential "democratic front" partners would need 376.

 

Thailand has been racked for the past 15 years by street protests by both Thaksin opponents and his supporters. The populist former telecoms billionaire was thrown out by the army in 2006 and a government led by his sister was ousted in 2014.

 

(Additional reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Panu Wongcha-um, Kay Johnson and Aye Min Thant; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Michael Perry and Paul Tait)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-25

[KMartinHandyman]

Word at the noodle shop was a lady from the amphur didn’t understand how they gave out 200,000 ballots but got back 500,000.

[Chelseafan]

Who would of thought that Prayut would still be in power? Well, Me that's who!

 

[SkyNets]

Anybody know what time the rioting starts? need to do a booze run!

[4MyEgo]

We stupid farangs all knew who is going to win the election, the one and only military general, Prayut.

 

It was planned a long time ago, the only difference now is that Thailand has a democratically elected Prime Minster....lol, who took over the government and the country by military rule in 2014, but now, Thailand is not under military rule, lol, what's that famous Thai saying, "same same"

 

I just hope we don't see a repeat of the bloodshed we saw in Bangkok in 2014.

 

So I suppose it's hail Prayut, kind of catchy don't you think...lol 

[taichiplanet]

Sore losers! Unlike his detractors he is not a politician so he can be trusted. ????

[Artisi]

Shoe on the other foot now ????????????????????????????????

[sjaak327]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The commission had planned to announce the unofficial results for the 500-seat lower House of Representatives on Sunday evening but said, without giving a reason, its announcement had been delayed until Monday.

Need more time to come up with an excuse...

[rkidlad]

This is utterly disgusting. Words fail me. 

[marcusarelus]

1 minute ago, rkidlad said:

This is utterly disgusting. Words fail me. 

Look on the bright side.  If they have figured out how to dump a server that is a big skill improvement.  Maybe there is hope. 

[darksidedog]

No one should be that surprised or shocked. Stacking the deck in his favour in the first place was never going to be enough, and irregularities were inevitable the moment they said they didn't need international observers.

[ChipButty]

Thailand's government officials always get the figures wrong

[Myran]

Not surprised. Pretty much all my Thai neighbors voted for the army, basically saying they're the "least bad" of the top candidates and that Future Forward wouldn't get big enough in their first election to make a difference.

[rkidlad]

1 minute ago, darksidedog said:

No one should be that surprised or shocked. Stacking the deck in his favour in the first place was never going to be enough, and irregularities were inevitable the moment they said they didn't need international observers.

I knew they’d do this, but I stupidly gave myself hope. 

[SABloke]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Unofficial results of Thailand's first election since a 2014 coup will be announced at 2 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Monday.

Well, it's 4pm now and still no announcement from the EC. They managed to countr 94% of the votes in 6 hours. But since 8.30am this morning haven't been able to count the last 6%???

[PREM-R]

I watched the press conference on Channel News Asia.  The only thing missing from it being a standard Thai TV show was a Katoey and the 'Whistle" and "Woosh"  sounds.  The guys from the EC had clearly no idea and were unable to provide any answers to the questions put to them.  They could not get off the stage quick enough.

[NanLaew]

8 minutes ago, PREM-R said:

I watched the press conference on Channel News Asia.  The only thing missing from it being a standard Thai TV show was a Katoey and the 'Whistle" and "Woosh"  sounds.  The guys from the EC had clearly no idea and were unable to provide any answers to the questions put to them.  They could not get off the stage quick enough.

Something about being able to confirm a certain amount of results 'soon' with the balance of the results to be confirmed 'later.'

 

No acknowledgement of a reputed 'server' issue that may have over-inflated the PPP's initial numbers or other reports of voting irregularities either.

 

What's so hard to understand?

[Mavideol]

1 hour ago, Chelseafan said:

Who would of thought that Prayut would still be in power? Well, Me that's who!

 

the guy did everything by the rule (555)...the way  he/they changed the constitution back in 2017 it's impossible for anybody else to have a go, he's there for life ....it's like China, they also changed their constitution, now Xi can stay in power for life

[Mavideol]

14 minutes ago, PREM-R said:

I watched the press conference on Channel News Asia.  The only thing missing from it being a standard Thai TV show was a Katoey and the 'Whistle" and "Woosh"  sounds.  The guys from the EC had clearly no idea and were unable to provide any answers to the questions put to them.  They could not get off the stage quick enough.

if you were at their place, knowing all had been staged some time ago (this was direct competition to the Cirque du Soleil) would you be able to answer question and keep face, I know I couldn't .. this is like POTUS, either you are with me or against me

[bannork]

25 minutes ago, Myran said:

Not surprised. Pretty much all my Thai neighbors voted for the army, basically saying they're the "least bad" of the top candidates and that Future Forward wouldn't get big enough in their first election to make a difference.

I think you should move 

[stevemac]

Arriving in Bangkok 3 April. Normally stay downtown, but staying overnight at airport hotel to avoid any potential problems before onward travel to Chiang Rai. Regardless of result, hope all is peaceful for everyone's sake.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[akirasan]

1 hour ago, KMartinHandyman said:

Word at the noodle shop was a lady from the amphur didn’t understand how they gave out 200,000 ballots but got back 500,000.

Maybe TAT did the counting

[Eric Loh]

More reasons to be suspicious as the EC again delay announcing the election results. Should be yesterday, then today at 2 and now Friday. A typical Prayut's style of promise and postponement.   

[GreasyFingers]

14 minutes ago, bannork said:

I think you should move 

Or you move to the same location as him.

[UASCB500BIKER]

GOD sent us Prayut to Save and Serve the people of Thailand. Thank You GOD.!!!!

[Traubert]

25 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

tit's like China, they also changed their constitution, now Xi can stay in power for life

I know this is off topic mods but forgive me for busting a myth here.

 

Xi Jingping has three titles. Gen Sec of the Communist Party. This job has no term limits. Chairman of the Central Military Commision. This job has no term limits. President of the PRC. This was recently amended to bring it in line with the other two roles in abolishing the two 5 year term limit.

 

By far the most important and powerful job he has is the Central Military Commission portfolio.

 

Had there been an heir in waiting, he would have stepped down anyway after 10 years but all the Politburo are too old or not experienced enough. He'll probably do three 5 year terms instead of two, He'll be 65 this year.

[beautifulthailand99]

Well at least the Thai people have the Coronation to look forward to in May. That should put the smile back on the faces of the good people. 

[akirasan]

How soon before we get a story about an honest taxi driver returning a box of ballots that somebody left in his cab?

[TopDeadSenter]

Best cancel this election and rehold it under strict international supervision. It was destined to fail, and I knew it would fail when Prayuth said he didn't need foreign observers. What a tool.

[beautifulthailand99]

2 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Best cancel this election and rehold it under strict international supervision. It was destined to fail, and I knew it would fail when Prayuth said he didn't need foreign observers. What a tool.

On the contrary it seemingly hasn't failed the army won with a stacked deck.  Back to Friday night lectures on all channels fun to look 'future forward' to now. Unless the students have other plans?