After a fierce election, the nation is bracing for another power struggle after two arch-rivals -- the pro-military Palang Pracharath (PPRP) and pro-democracy camp led by Pheu Thai, still closely linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- each won enough votes to seek a coalition.
They are racing to form a coalition that would add legitimacy to their respective claims of winning the people's popular mandate on Sunday.
The Future Forward Party (FFP), which emerged as the second runner-up yesterday, is attempting to isolate the PPRP by persuading anti-military factions to work together.
On the one hand, the poll result reflects greater political polarisation between the pro-military, pro-Thaksin, and pro-democracy elements. On the flip side, the emergence of FFP under the leadership of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit hints at the aspirations of Thai voters, especially first-time voters, to invoke change and reform.
Yesterday, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, a core figure in the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai, said the party was ready to form the core of a coalition if it could gather support from smaller parties.
PPRP spokesman Kobsak Pootrakul insisted the pro-military party would prevail.
As of press time yesterday, PPRP, which proposed incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as its prime ministerial candidate, had secured 7.9 million "popular" votes and 97 seats, while Pheu Thai had grabbed 7.4 million votes and 137 seats.
FFP claimed 5.8 million votes and over 30 seats. The official results will be certified by the Election Commission (EC) in May.
Political etiquette requires that whoever wins the election be allowed to serve as the core element in any future government. But newly revised poll rules introduce complications that could be considered grey areas.
Analysts said earlier it would not be too difficult for PPRP, with 250 senators in its pocket, to emerge as the winner. The selection of the senators was overseen by a committee under Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon. It remains to be seen if FFP will be able to muster enough anti-junta parties to form a government, effectively leaving the PPRP and the senators out in the cold.
But even though the PPRP looks like the winner, it cannot claim an absolute triumph given the fewer seats it clinched compared to Pheu Thai. The initial results mean that a political compromise is no longer avoidable. Even if the PPRP manages to gather the support it needs to form a government in the coming months, it should know it cannot ignore the will of the people regarding change and new politics. Instead, the party should respond positively to this.
As a country trapped in colour-coded polarisation for over a decade, Thailand needs to learn its lesson. Politicians including Gen Prayut and the PPRP must make issues of national interest a top priority, and do whatever they can to avoid political deadlock.
Those concerned must be aware that Thailand as Asean chair for 2019 cannot afford to be hamstrung by political difficulties. On top of that, it's the duty of every party to make sure the country can move forward.
