Thailand

PM’s coalition gains seats in parliament and strengthens power

Article published on the 2009-01-12 Latest update 2009-01-12 14:06 TU

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
(Photo: Reuters)

The coalition headed by Thailand’s new Democrat Party won the most seats in Sunday’s Parliamentary elections, with a sixty per cent voter turnout, according to initial results released by the Election Commission. Winning most of the open seats in the 480-seat body, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s coalition strengthened its position to run the country.

Twenty nine seats were open after a judge banned lawmakers from the former People Power Party (PPP) from politics after ruling against them in charges of voter fraud.

Abhisit’s month-old Democrat Party won seven seats outright, and its coalition partners won thirteen. The two opposition parties, connected to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, won the others.

“We are beginning the process of uniting the people of Thailand together, so there’s no divide between different parts of the country,” Democrat Party MP from the south of Thailand, Sirichok Sopha, told RFI.

The election results, said Sirichok, mean that Thais want unity. He says the coalition is chipping away at the traditional Thaksin strongholds in the north and north-east of the country.

“We won a few seats in the north and northeast, especially in the northeast,” he told RFI. “We won a few seats in Ubon Ratchathani, and we won a seat in Lamphun, in northern Thailand. And also we came very close at Lampang.”

Residents of the capital, Bangkok, also voted for a new governor, with one exit poll showing Democrat Party candidate Sukhumbhand Paribatra winning, with nearly 47 per cent of the votes.

Sirichok said that the government with a more comfortable lead in parliament, will prioritise unity. He said there will likely be a special commission created to investigate the months of often violent protests last year.

“A fact finding commission which will enable the public to know what happened in that time,” he said.

He also said the government will address economic problems by introducing an economic stimulus package “in the region of 100,000 million bahts” (2.17 billion euros).

Sunday’s election results still have to be certified by the Election Commission, and will be officially announced within one month.