Votes are being counted in Thailand’s parliamentary elections with exit polls suggesting a victory for the opposition Pheu Thai party
Votes are being counted in Thailand’s parliamentary elections with exit polls suggesting a victory for the opposition Pheu Thai party.
Pheu Thai, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is expected to win 313 of 500 seats, according to an exit poll by Bangkok’s Suan Dusit University, which is considered the most historically reliable.
Assumption University (ABAC) put the number of seats won by the opposition at 299.
Another survey by Nida Poll gave 275 seats to Pheu Thai and 104 to the ruling Democrat party.
Sunday’s vote – which closed at 3pm local time (08:00 GMT) – was the first major electoral test for the Thai government since mass opposition rallies in Bangkok, the Thai capital, last year, which sparked a military crackdown that left at least 91 people dead.
Reporting from Bangkok, Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay said many Thais were taken aback by the scale of Pheu Thai party’s projected win.
‘Surprised’
“Everyone is quite surprised, stunned – perhaps by these results,” he said.
“Exit polls could change a little bit but certainly everything points towards a comprehensive win for the largest opposition party, Pheu Thai, led by Yingluck Shinawatra.”
If the results bear out the predictions, Yingluck would become the country’s first female prime minister.
She lacks political experience but has garnered much attention as Thaksin’s sister.
Thaksin, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai since being ousted by the military on charges of corruption in a 2006 coup, remains hugely popular among the country’s poor. The elite, however, are wary of him.
Thaksin told Thai broadcaster in an interview held in Dubai, that he had called to congratulate his sister on the exit poll results, and cautioned her of “tough work ahead”.
He also said he will wait for the right moment to return to Thailand from the United Arab Emirates.
“I want to go back to Thailand but I will wait for the right moment” he said.
The Democrat party, headed by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the incumbent prime minister, wants Thaksin to return to the country to stand trial for corruption.
Vejjajiva took office in 2008 following a court ruling that threw out the previous administration. His party has not won a general election in nearly two decades.
A Democrat spokesman said on Sunday that the governing party urges the Thai people to wait for official election results, and not accept exit polls that predict landslide victories for Pheu Thai.
The spokesman refuted Suan Dusit University’s poll that said Pheu Thai has won 28 of 33 seats in Bangkok – a predominantly Democrat constituency, saying that the Democrats were in the lead in the capital city, with 49 per cent of votes counted there.
Cautious jubilation
Reporting from Khon Kaen, a traditionally Pheu Thai stronghold, Al Jazeera’s Aela Callen said Yingluck, Thaksin, and Pheu Thai supporters are waiting to hear the official results.
“There is a sense that the true jubilation won’t start until they actually have those numbers … as a steady stream of people have been coming to watch the numbers for Pheu Thai gain at a rapid pace,” Callen reported from a Khon Kaen counting centre.
Pithaya Pookaman, who heads Pheu Thai’s foreign relations, said though exit polls have been favorable, the party is “afraid that there might be vote rigging” or ballot-box switching.
“Judging from past experience of last elections, yes, we are quite worried,” Pithaya told Al Jazeera.
“We are afraid there might be vote-rigging [or] switching ballot boxes, so we are still monitoring the results.”
In the event of a Pheu Thai landslide victory, Pithaya says, anti-democracy forces will have to “think very hard” before provoking a repeat of previous years’ violence and election nullifications.
“We learned from our lessons. If the people give us a landslide victory if the people give us an overwhelming victory I’m sure the people who are trying to derail the election, who are trying to prevent democracy from working in Thailand, will have to think very hard,” he said.
“I think the world opinion is upon them. The people have given their answer, their decision, so I think it’s a matter of taking that into consideration and not derail the democratic process.
source Aljazeera.net