Bangkok, Mar 20 (EFE).- Thai authorities dissolved parliament Monday with the aim of calling general elections in May, which will be the first vote since the 2019 elections held under the military junta.
After the dissolution was announced in a decree published in the Royal Gazette, the Electoral Commission will meet to decide in the next few days the date of the elections, which must take place between May 4 and May 19.
According to a poll published Sunday by public consultancy NIDA, the two main opposition parties lead the intention to vote, with 49.75 percent for Pheu Thai and 17.40 percent percent for the reformist Move Forward party.
In third place is the new conservative formation United Thai Nation, with 11.75 percent of support, led by the current Prime Minister Prayut Cha-ocha, ahead of the Democratic Party, with 5.40 percent of intention to vote.
According to NIDA, 38.20 percent of those consulted show their support as future prime minister for Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a 36-year-old neophyte in politics, at the head of Puea Thai; followed by Pita Limjaroenrat (15.75 percent) -of the progressive Move Forward – and Prayut (15.65 percent)
Paetongtarn belongs to the popular Shinawatra clan, which has won every election since 2001 by number of seats, and is the daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister between 2001 and 2006, and the niece of Yingluck, head of government between 2011 and 2014.
Thaksin and Yingluck were ousted in separate military coups before they could finish their terms, and both are currently in exile.
The last military uprising was led by Prayut himself, who made the leap into politics in the 2019 elections and obtained sufficient support to form a government, although the elections were branded as “not very transparent” by international observers.
The vote in May will elect some 500 members of parliament, although 250 members of the Senate will also participate in the executive election, handpicked by the former military junta and have a mandate until 2024. EFE
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