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Yingluck plays down victory; poised to become country's first female PM
Unofficial results of yesterday's general election indicated the Pheu Thai Party would win a majority of the 500 House of Representative seats and the mandate to form the next government.
Its top party-list candidate Yingluck Shinawatra is poised to become the country's first female prime minister, although in her news conference yesterday, she did confirm she would become the next government head. She said she would wait for the official results.
"I don't want to say that Pheu Thai has won today. The people have given us an opportunity to serve and there will be a lot of duties ahead," she said.
"It is the exercising of rights by people that gave me this opportunity," she said at 8pm at the Pheu Thai headquarters, which was crowded with photographers, reporters, and many jubilant party supporters.
She also thanked Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the outgoing prime minister, for congratulating her.
Yingluck - who had no political experience before entering the election fray six weeks ago - is widely considered a proxy for her brother, fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who described her as "my clone".
With more than 80 per cent of the ballots counted, the Election Commission's preliminary results showed that Pheu Thai was leading with 261 House seats, well over a simple majority. The Democrat Party was set to win 162 seats.
Initial results showed an outcome similar to that of the 2007 election, with Pheu Thai winning most seats in the Northeast and the North while the Democrats performed better in the South and in Bangkok. The capital - which saw a high voter turnout of 71 per cent - provided some solace to the Democrats, who were leading in 23 of the 33 constituencies.
In the latest count of votes for party-list candidates, Pheu Thai had 13.7 million votes, compared with 10 million for the Democrats. In the previous election almost four years ago, Pheu Thai's predecessor the People Power Party and the Democrat Party each secured more than 12 million votes, with a 190,000-vote margin in favour of the PPP.
Pheu Thai is unlikely to form a single-party government with a slim majority in the Lower House. Thaksin made it clear in remarks after the closing of yesterday's voting that there would be at least one other party in a Pheu Thai-led coalition. "Having no other partners, it will be lonely - just like me," Thaksin said, referring to his self-exile overseas.
A Pheu Thai-led coalition government is likely to include the Chart Thai Pattana, Chart Pattana Puea Pandin, and Palang Chon parties, as well as a Bhum Jai Thai faction led by banned politician Somsak Thepsuthin, who appeared to be unhappy with the party's mainstream. According to the latest results, the coalition would consist of a little more than 300 MPs.
Yingluck said yesterday that Pheu Thai had talked to Chart Thai Pattana about forming a new coalition together and would talk to other possible partners later. But she did not disclose the details.
At her news conference at the Pheu Thai HQ, she told foreign press in an interview that she had not won simply because she was a part of the Shinawatra family.
She added that she was still waiting for an official election outcome in order to decide about the make-up of a new coalition government. Chart Thai Pattana has already been in contact and expressed its willingness to join the coalition, according to Yingluck.
According to a Pheu Thai source, Chart Thai Pattana asked for control of two major ministries - Finance, Commerce, or Transport. A source from Chart Pattana Puea Pandin said the party would be satisfied with the Energy portfolio it holds in the current government.
Earlier yesterday, in his brief statement shortly after 7.30pm, Democrat leader Abhisit thanked voters and said signs were good for Thai politics to move ahead. He congratulated Pheu Thai for its election victory but warned that the Democrats would oppose any amnesty attempts for Thaksin.
"It is clear now that Pheu Thai has won this election. The Democrat Party accepts defeat and congratulates Pheu Thai [on having sufficient votes] to form a government, and Yingluck [in a position to assume] the PM's post, especially as Thailand may have its first female PM," he said.
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