Paetongtarn Shinawatra, prime ministerial candidate for the Pheu Thai party, (centre) and Srettha Thavisin, a prime ministerial candidate, arrive to address members of the media at the Pheu Thai Party Headquarters, Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday, May 14, 2023. Voting ended in Thailand’s national elections with a mix of pre- and post-election surveys showing pro-democracy parties leading in their efforts to replace a military-backed government that first took power in 2014. - Bloomberg
BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters): A preliminary vote count in Thailand's election indicated an early lead on Sunday for the country's progressive opposition, trailed by ruling coalition parties backed by the military and establishment.
The Pheu Thai Party was ahead with 6.45% of eligible votes counted by 1333 GMT, followed by another opposition party, Move Forward, according to the election commission's preliminary count.
The poll body was expected to announce its preliminary election results by 10 p.m. (1500 GMT).
The election pits a progressive opposition against parties backed by a nexus of old money, conservatives and generals at the heart of two decades of upheaval in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
An opposition win on Sunday would bring no guarantees that either party would govern, however, even as an alliance, because of parliamentary rules written by the military after its 2014 coup that are skewed in its favour.
Electing a prime minister and forming a government requires the backing of a majority of the lower and upper houses combined.
The Senate was appointed by the former junta and is expected to vote in favour of parties or blocs allied with the military.
The election follows nine years of government led or backed by a military that staged two coups in the space of eight years against governments controlled by the billionaire Shinawatra family, Pheu Thai's driving force.
(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
