Thailand’s opposition parties dealt a stinging general-election defeat to the country’s establishment politicians on Monday. The traditional military-monarchy establishment, which has controlled the country’s politics for decades, now faces a serious challenge. Mint breaks down the development.
- Two of Thailand’s opposition parties, Pheu Thai and Move Forward, have won a handsome election victory. The Move Forward party, led by rising political superstar Pita Limjaroenrat, took a stunning 151 of the 500 seats up for election. Pheu Thai, led by former Prime Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter, bagged 141 seats.
- Meanwhile, military-backed parties faced severe losses, spelling trouble for incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. A former army officer who came to power after leading a military coup that displaced a democratically elected government in 2014, Chan-o-cha has faced anger for his authoritarianism and mishandling of the economy.
- The victory reflects a widespread desire for change. In 2020 Thailand saw massive youth protests that challenged the military’s influence in the country’s politics and demanded reform. They also called for reform of the monarchy, long considered to be an untouchable subject for political parties.
- Move Forward has harnessed much of the energy and political discontent among the country’s youth. It has also called for changes to Thailand’s Lèse-majesté laws, which criminalise any criticism of the monarchy.
- Pheu Thai, led by a scion of the politically influential Shinawatra family, was originally the favourite to win the election. While it still secured a respectable result it found itself outperformed by Move Forward, which seemed to capture the mood of the country’s youth.
- The focus will now be on two key opposition figures. Move Forward’s leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a 43-year-old Harvard graduate who has electrified the country’s youth with his campaigns, has already announced his desire to become prime minister. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will also be a key contender. Her aunt, Yingluck Shinwatra, was also prime minister before she was overthrown in the 2014 military coup.
- Despite their handsome victory, it is still unclear if the opposition parties will succeed in getting one of their own into the prime minister’s office. The country’s lower house and senate, the latter of which is filled with military-backed candidates, will now have to vote to choose a prime minister.
- It is also unclear whether the reformist zeal unleashed by the elections can effectively reduce the power of the military and the monarchy, two institutions that have long dominated the country’s politics. Move Forward’s political predecessor party was banned while both Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra were ousted in coups.
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