Thai political battle - 17th May 2023

Having seized power during a coup over a decade ago in Thailand, the military-backed United Thai Nation Party's reign has come to an end. The 14th May elections saw the party falling out of favour with the public.

Their main opposition in the elections was the Move Forward Party (MFP) led by 42 year old Pita Limjaroenrat. The MFP brings together the pro-democracy younger generation who are craving change. Turning out early to vote, Pita encouraged all of the 57 million registered voters to join him at the ballot box.

Pita Limjaroenrat: "It's not about, you know, the polls and the numbers, but it's really about the turnout of the people. I think if, if I'm hopeful, the only KPI that would determine how hopeful I am, is at the end of the day, the voting turnout. I think that will be a quite strong driver in terms of success of this election and also my party."

Pita's call to action was met with a record turnout of voters. With 99 percent of the ballots counted, it became obvious that the MFP had a clear lead over the military-backed parties and Pita addressed the media.

Pita Limjaroenrat: "At least we'll be passing the objective or the goal of the campaign. We have started with the objective of campaign to have more than three digits of, of new MPs, I think at the minimum we have exceeded that goal. And we are in the process of reaching 160, which is the high end goal that we have set."

However, there are still obstacles to overcome for the MFP to take power. They'll need to form a coalition with the other opposition parties. Also, a constitution installed by the junta in 2017 dictates that the new premier must be chosen jointly by the 500 elected MPs and 250 senate members appointed by the junta. There's also the fear that the MFP could be dissolved by court order as its predecessor, the Future Forward Party, was in 2020. The final result may not be declared for several weeks.