Elections in Thailand: the party backed by the army takes the lead | New

Bangkok, Thailand – The preliminary results of the Thai Election Commission show that an army-backed party is in the lead in the first elections in the country since the military coup of 2014.

With around 90% of the votes cast on Sunday in the deferred polls, the Palang Pracharat party won seven million votes. Pheu Thai, the party linked to the former prime minister and exiled the tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, had 6.6 million.

Future Forward, a newly founded party that campaigned on a promise of change and military reform, was third with nearly 4.8 million votes.

The commission announced that it will announce the final results on Monday at 14:00 (07:00 GMT).

The vote takes place under a new constitution that gives the military considerable influence over the country's civil policy and makes it difficult for any party to obtain a majority in the lower house, which has 500 seats. The upper house is appointed by the army.

Prayuth Chan-ocha, the retired army general who led the coup against the country's last elected government five years ago, hopes the elections will bring him back to power as Civilian Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister will be the person who gets the majority of votes in both Houses, and the 250-seat Senate is considered a benefit to Prayuth.

"This constitution was written to support a crazy party," Boon Srichok, 77, told Al Jazeera at Pheu Thai headquarters in Bangkok. "Palang Pracharat was already 250 legally and it's not fair, it's cheating."

The turnout rate is 65.96%, below expectations. In the early vote last week, it was 87%.

Some 52 million voters have been registered on electoral lists, of which about seven million for the first time.

"Assuming the elections are fair, which could be the subject of debate, this was the last piece of a five-year plan completed: a coup d'etat. 39, state, anti-democratic constitution and elections for the army, David Streckfuss, an independent historian based in Khon Kaen, in the north-east of the country, told Al Jazeera.

"They claim that now they are legitimate. "

Commenting on the good performance of Future Forward, he addsre: "The only good thing about this election, which could bode well for the future, is that the Future Forward Party has achieved a surprisingly positive result given the youth of its party. "

"Start to see the future"

Earlier Sunday, in a polling station at Jula Hospital of Chulalongkorn University, election officials counted the number of minutes before the polls closed and some stragglers rushed to vote.

Nurse Pornsiri Supkong has arrived in a whiff with five minutes to spare. The 23-year-old woman said that she had decided who to vote for after badyzing party policies, but had also concluded that after so many years of division, it was time for Thailand to try something new. "I looked back at the conflict and I thought I wanted to break with that," murmuring that she had decided to support Future Forward, which was founded last year by billionaire auto parts Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.

The count of votes in the polling station, one of 6,000 in Bangkok, showed that others seemed to share his point of view, Future Forward getting solid results and Prayuth's Palang Pracharat to the second square.

Some members of the public were present to watch the account.

"We are starting to see the future," said two students, walking away.

The election campaign has been lively and Pheu Thai, which has its power base in the rural areas of the north-east, is expected to win the most seats.

Other major parties include the Democrats, Thailand's oldest political party, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva. The chief announced his resignation later on Sunday after partial results showed the fifth coming party, with 2.98 million votes.

In the gym of Mater Dei School in central Bangkok, many voters came to vote after the doors were opened.

Phatcharin Ayasahond, 55, agreed that the elections were important, but his main concern was to preserve peace and stability.

The computer scientist said that she had been caught in the violence on the streets of Bangkok in 2010 and that she did not want this type of conflict to come back.

"This election is very important," she said after her vote. "This time, it's up to us to decide who will be the prime minister."

She refused to reveal for whom she had voted.

& # 39; Good people & # 39;

Thais choose their representatives in a complex system that includes both a direct vote and a party list. Although official results will only be announced after the coronation of King Vajiralongkorn in May, the Electoral Commission is expected to announce preliminary results a few hours later. the polls close.

The king himself issued an announcement on the eve of the elections broadcast on national television saying that Thais had to support "good people" to run the country.

Thailand has been plagued by divisions between supporters and opponents of Thaksin since being elected prime minister in 2001, promising to help ordinary people who have long felt ignored by Bangkok's traditional elites. .

Thaksin was overthrown by a coup in 2006 after numerous street protests in "yellow shirts". He lives in exile after being found guilty of corruption. He says the charges were motivated by political considerations.

The electoral victory cycle backed by Thaksin, instability and coup d'etat continued until Prayuth took control of the country in 2014, banning political activity and repressing freedom of expression.

Although the ban is lifted to allow the election campaign, parties and candidates continue to operate in a restrictive environment.

Thai Raksa Chart, another party linked to Thaksin, was banned and dissolved in February after appointing Princess Ubolratana, the king's older sister, as a candidate for the post of prime minister.

Thanathorn is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday for criticizing the military.

The parties must obtain 376 seats for the majority, so it is possible for Palang Pracharat to form a government with only 126 seats in the lower house, baduming they have the support of the 250-seat upper house appointed by the # 39; army.

"It's a step forward," warned Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. "The road is long and we must be attentive and sober.It is not a true democracy.It is a democratic transition under the guard of the army."

Additional report by Hathairat Phaholtap