The run-up to Thailand’s vote on Sunday was “heavily tilted” to benefit a party close to the ruling military junta, while a messy ballot-counting process created mistrust, an Asian election monitor said yesterday.
Persistent confusion about results two days after the vote have diminished hopes that the first election since a 2014 military coup would end nearly 15 years of political turmoil in the nation.
The Bangkok-based Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) stopped short of declaring outright fraud in the election, in which a pro-junta party and an opposition party linked to a self-exiled former premier have both claimed victory.
“The environment at large is heavily tilted to benefit the military junta,” Amael Vier, an official of the civil society group that seeks to promote democratic elections, told a news briefing. “A lot of people still express distrust toward the electoral process.”
However, asked if the election had been free and fair, another ANFREL official declined to comment directly.
“So many things have to be considered together,” mission head Rohana Nishanta Hettiarachchie said. “It is unfair to conclude that the whole process was free and fair or not.”
The Thai Election Commission was not immediately available for comment. It has previously declined to comment on accusations of cheating.
With only partial results reported, the party backing junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha has said it is gathering coalition partners to form a government.
However, the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has alleged “irregularities” and is considering legal challenges, while also saying it is putting together a coalition government.
It could be days or even weeks before it is clear whether either Prayuth’s party or the “democratic front” has won enough seats to form a stable government.
Unofficial results for 350 directly elected “constituency seats” in the Thai House of Representatives released on Monday by the commission showed Pheu Thai leading with 137 seats, versus 97 seats for Prayuth’s party.
However, official results, including 150 more “party seats,” would not be available until May 9, the election body said.
A fuller picture could emerge on Friday, when the election commission releases vote totals for each constituency, used to determine the allocation of party seats, in a complex formula.
Parties are making their own calculations on the basis of partial results and seeking coalition partners to form a government.
The commission has blamed delays and irregularities in early partial results on “human error.”
Prayuth, who as army chief seized power in 2014, was expected to speak later yesterday after a Cabinet meeting.
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