Thailand to release official election results ahead of schedule

Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) is set to announce 95 percent of the official election results on May 7-8, according to the local media.

A man casts his ballot at a polling station in Bangkok on March 24

EC Chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong chaired a special meeting of the commission on May 5 to review a number of petitions related to the March 24 general election. Another meeting is set to take place on May 6 to examine all of the remaining petitions.

The EC has decided to officially unveiled on May 7 the names of at least 95 percent, or 333 members of parliament (MPs), elected from 350 constituencies.

It was unclear when the full list would be announced, although the EC said earlier that it would release the complete results on May 9. The party-list MPs will be announced on May 8.

In a related move, the EC has ordered a new election in Constituency 8 of Chiang Mai province on May 26 after Surapol Kiatchaiyakorn of the Pheu Thai Party, who came first in the March 24 election, was found guilty of election fraud. The new election will be held without taking new applications, meaning that Pheu Thai will lose the seat.

Thailand’s House of Representatives consists of 500 seats, of which 350 officials are voted across constituencies and 150 others elected from the national party lists under a system of proportional representation.

The EC’s preliminary results with over 95 percent of votes counted showed that the Palang Pracha Rath party that supports Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha won the most popular votes nationwide, followed by the Pheu Thai party.

VNA