Asia-Pacific News

Victorious Thai party forms coalition for government

Jul 4, 2011, 7:51 GMT

Opposition Pheu Thai party\'s candidate for prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra smiles during a press conference to form a coalition government at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, 04 July 2011. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

Bangkok - The Pheu Thai Party, which won a majority vote in weekend polls, on Monday formed a coalition with four smaller parties to form Thailand's next government.

Prime minister candidate Yingluck Shinawatra, the youngest sister of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, announced the coalition lineup after election officials confirmed that her party had won 265 out of 500 contested seats in Sunday's general election.

Pheu Thai's main rival, the incumbent Democrat Party, won 159 seats, prompting outgoing premier Abhisit Vejjajiva to announce his resignation as party chief Monday.

Pheu Thai teamed up with Chatthapattana, Chatpattan Pheupandin, Palang Chon and Mahachon parties to form the next government. The new administration will not take office for several weeks, to allow the Election Commission time to finish investigations into allegations of vote-buying and fraud at the polls.

The coalition will hold 299 seats in the lower house.

'It's a pretty number,' joked Yingluck, 44, slated to become Thailand's first female premier.

A former businesswoman with no previous political experience, she was handpicked by her older brother to be the party's candidate, describing her as his 'clone.'

The family ties have led to accusations that, once in power, Pheu Thai will seek an amnesty for Thaksin, who has been living in self-exile since 2008 to avoid a two-year jail sentence for a conviction for abuse of power.

'The Pheu Thai party has no policy of giving an amnesty to one person,' Yingluck told a press conference. 'Everyone needs to receive equal justice.'

The Democrat Party campaigned on a platform that Pheu Thai was pursuing the interests of one man instead of the good of the nation.

The majority of Thai people, judging from the election results, don't care.

'As leader of the Democrat Party, in acknowledgement that we have won fewer seats this time than in the 2007 election, I need to accept responsibility and have decided to resign,' Abhisit said.

Thaksin won a loyal following among the urban and rural poor by implementing populist policies during his two-term premiership between 2001-06.

Thailand has been deeply divided since early 2006 when Bangkok's middle classes and political elites turned against Thaksin's increasingly autocratic, self-serving rule, his popular support notwithstanding.

He was toppled in a military coup, sentenced and had 46 billion baht (1.5 billion dollars) in family assets confiscated by the Supreme Court in 2010.

Any efforts by Pheu Thai to grant Thaksin an amnesty would run into serious opposition, analysts said.