Pita: Move Forward, Pheu Thai can form government
published : 15 May 2023 at 09:00
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Post Reporters
The Move Forward Party (MFP) is expected to form a coalition with Pheu Thai as unofficial election results showed they were leading in a tight race.
The Election Commission (EC) began counting votes after the general election ended at 5pm on Sunday.
As of 10.30pm, Pheu Thai Party and the Move Forward Party were taking turns in leading both the constituency and party-list races.
As of 7.26am on Monday, the Move Forward Party had taken the lead in both the constituency and party-list races, followed by the Pheu Thai Party and the Bhumjaithai Party.
Earlier, Pita Limcharoenrat, the MFP leader, on Sunday confirmed that it could form a coalition government with the Pheu Thai Party and other parties from the previous opposition bloc. He confirmed he would not do a deal with the military-linked parties.
Mr Pita said MFP and Pheu Thai could have enough House seats to form a government. "This is a positive sign. It's time for Thailand to change," he said.
Asked about coalition talks with Pheu Thai, Mr Pita said he expected the talks to start at 10-11pm on Sunday night. "We will change Thailand together," the MFP leader said.
Mr Pita, 42, said the formation of the next government would be subject to a memorandum of understanding and there must be conditions.
He ruled out the possibility of forming the next government with the United Thai Nation Party of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the Palang Pracharath Party of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.
Mr Pita did not rule out possible coalition participation by the Bhumjaithai Party of Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that the incoming government is likely to face protests and resistance from its opponents.
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Vocabulary
- bloc: a group of people or a group of countries with the same aim - สมาชิกพรรคการเมือง
- coalition government: a government formed by two or more political parties working together - รัฐบาลผสม
- constituency: a district that elects its own representative to parliament - เขตเลือกตั้ง
- Election Commission (EC) (noun): the independent government agency that oversees elections - คณะกรรมการเลือกตั้ง
- general election (noun): an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections (Source: Wikipedia) - การเลือกตั้งทั่วไป
- House: House of Representatives - สภา
- memorandum of understanding (MOU): a document used to describe a form of a written agreement between two or more groups, countries, etc. The document is not as strong as a contract but outlines a commitment between the two to work together toward the same purpose or goals -
- military (noun): soldiers; the armed forces - ทหาร, กองกำลัง, กองทัพ
- opponent: someone who is competing against you - ฝ่ายตรงข้าม
- opposition: of a political party that is not part of the government or a group which is against the government - ฝ่ายค้าน ผู้ต่อต้าน
- participation: to take part in or become involved in an activity - การมีส่วน
- party-list: a system that gives each party in an election a number of seats in relation to the number of votes its candidates receive - ระบบสัดส่วน, ระบบปาร์ตี้ลิสต์
- resistance: a refusal to accept something or allow it to happen - การต่อต้าน, การขัดขืน
- ruled out: stopped considering this as a possibility - ประกาศว่าเป็นสิ่งที่เป็นไปไม่ได้
- taking turns: (of a number of people) to do the same thing one after the other - สลับกัน
