BANGKOK, March 24 -- Thailand's pro-military party has taken the lead in the country's first general election since the military coup of 2014, according to preliminary results. The vote pits a royalist junta headed by former general Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha against a "democratic front" led by the political party he ousted. Electoral Commission figures show:
Democracy or chaos? "I am happy to see citizens come out and exercise their voting rights," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters on Sunday after casting his vote. "I want to see love and unity. Everybody has one vote, one voice. Everybody wants democracy." The vote was foreshadowed by a cryptic last-minute warning from King Maha Vajiralongkorn who urged voters to support "good" leaders to prevent "chaos." "I am old enough to choose myself" began trending on social media late Saturday in defiance of the king's statement. Critics say the electoral system, revised and rewritten by the ruling junta, gives a built-in advantage to pro-military parties. They claim the system is rigged to prevent the Pheu Thai Party — linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — from returning to power. Forming a government The formation of a new government, likely to be unstable and short-lived, could take weeks of haggling. Pheu Thai is set to be the largest party, with Prayuth’s new military proxy Palang Pracharat projected to finish in second place. The Senate’s role in voting for a prime minister means that Palang Pracharat party needs only 126 in the House of Representatives to control the government, while the democratic front need 376. What are Thai voters voting for? They are voting for lawmakers in the 500-seat House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, which along with the upper chamber of the Senate — appointed entirely by the ruling junta — will select the next government. Millions of new voters More than 7 million younger voters were able to cast their ballot for the first time, with the last election having taken place in 2011.
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