Thailand opposition crushes military parties in election rout

Reuter’s ^ | May 14, 2023 | Panu Wongcha-um

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4 minute readMay 14, 20233:20 PM PDTLast Updated an hour ago Thailand opposition crushes military parties in election rout By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat Summary Challenge ahead for opposition parties to form government Move Forward comes close to sweep of capital Bangkok No alliances with dictator-backed parties - Pita Military parties down, but not out Too soon to discuss alliances - Pheu Thai BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters) - Thailand's opposition secured a stunning election win on Sunday after trouncing parties allied with the military, setting the stage for a flurry of deal-making over forming a government in a bid to end nearly a decade of conservative, army-backed rule.

The liberal Move Forward party and the populist Pheu Thai Party were far out in front with 99% of votes counted, but it was far from certain either will form the next government, with parliamentary rules written by the military after its 2014 coup skewed in its favour.

To rule, the opposition parties will need to strike deals and muster support from multiple camps, including members of a junta-appointed Senate that has sided with military parties and gets to vote on who becomes prime minister and form the next administration.

Sunday's election was the latest bout in a long-running battle for power between Pheu Thai, the populist juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra family, and a nexus of old money, conservatives and military with influence over key institutions at the heart of two decades of turmoil.

[Enterprise]

Ha ha ha!!!!

[Owen]

Turkey has been a NATO member since the 1950s. It is the EU who are excluding Turkey from the EU.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

4. They are not Arizona, that’s how!! Sarc

[Clutch Martin]

As bad as it has become since the 60’s,
There goes the neighborhood.

Maybe they’ll get lucky and the Buddhists will bring on another uprising with the monks running the streets caning people. It has happened on a small scale in various pockets of that country but that was decades ago.

[Bounced2X]

I understand Erdogan has an Ottoman Empire fixation as well. That kind of megalomania in that part to the world usually begs the question..”what could go wrong?”