Another setback for Prayut after opposition wins in Bangkok by-election
This is the third defeat for the Palang Pracharath Party, which replaced the military junta that seized power in 2014. Only time will tell if it marks the end of its hold on the country. The opposition slams the government’s lack of democracy and its handling of the pandemic.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Thailand’s main opposition party, Pheu Thai, won a landslide victory in yesterday’s by-election for Bangkok’s Constituency n. 9.
Only time will tell if this poll represents a trend that might undermine the rule of the pro-military Palang Pracharath Party (PRPR).
The latter leads the governing coalition under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a former general who rose to power with the military coup of May 2014 and was picked as prime minister by the country’ s National Assembly in July 2019.
The opposition party candidate, Surachart Thienthong, received 29,416 votes, whilst the PRPR’s Saralrasmi Jenjaka garnered only 7,906 votes. Even more humiliating for the ruling party, it won fewer votes that the Move Forward Party[*] (20,361) and the Kla Party[†] (20,047).
This is the third defeat for the PPRP after losses in Chumphon and Songkhla provinces, won by the Democrat Party.
Yesterday's vote in the capital was a test of the government’s strength ahead of two important events, namely Bangkok’s gubernatorial election and an opposition confidence vote in parliament, both scheduled for next May.
Voter turnout in this by-election was around 70 per cent, which suggests renewed voters’ interest in politics, a sign that the system the government set up is in trouble as it is not very open to dialogue and not very tolerant of dissent.
Grassroots movement are renewing their call for greater democracy and for the military to get out of politics.
Many Thais are especially critical of the government’s handling of the pandemic, which is carving deep wounds in the country’s social and economic fabric.
[*] The Move Forward Party is the latest reincarnation of the Future Forward Party, which was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 2020.
[†] The Kla (Dare) Party is led by economist Korn Chatikavanij, a former member of the Democrat Party, which has always been strong in Bangkok but has been in decline for some time.
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23/05/2022 11:33
