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THAILAND’S first election since the 2014 military coup descended into chaos yesterday after the Electoral Commission (EC) delayed announcing preliminary results amid complaints over irregularities and inaccurate data.
Initial reports pointed to victory for the pro-military Palang Pracha Rath Party which would have allowed it to form a government under the current prime minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha.
The EC announced after polls closed on Sunday that the PPRP had won 7.6 million of the popular vote with 90 per cent of the ballots counted, half a million more than Pheu Thai – a party linked to former prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra.
However the EC backtracked on its initial statements yesterday stating it had different results for the number of seats won by each party.
At a press conference the EC did not clarify the position and delayed an announcement on the results.
Turnout was unexpectedly low at just 64 per cent with questions over the vote count numbers.
EC secretary-general Charungvith Phumma put the confusion down to “human error.”
Both Pheu Thai and PPRP claimed that they planned to form a coalition government. Official results will be announced on May 9.
