 |
| Yingluck Shinawatra, leader of the Puea Thai party, cheered by supporters at party HQ in Bangkok. Photograph: Vincent Yu/AP |
Yingluck Shinawatra set to be country’s first female leader as prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva prepares for opposition
Sunday 3 July 2011
Tania Branigan in Bangkok
guardian.co.uk
Thailand’s Democrat government has conceded defeat in Sunday’s election – putting Yingluck Shinawatra on course to become the country’s first female leader, five years after her brother Thaksin was toppled as prime minister in a coup.
Preliminary results suggest a remarkable turnaround for Thaksin, a billionaire now living as a fugitive in Dubai. Although Yingluck is putatively leader of the Puea Thai party, she is regarded as his proxy.
Yingluck, a 44-year-old businesswoman who entered politics just six weeks ago, cautioned that she was waiting to see the results on Monday. But she added that she had already spoken to the Chart Thai Pattana party, whom she said would take a coalition past the halfway mark in the 500-seat parliament.
“We have tough days ahead and all of this is just the beginning,” she said. “I’ll do my best and will not disappoint you.”
Five hours after polls closed, the election commission projected Puea Thai would win 261 seats with prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrats taking just 162. An absolute majority would prevent the weeks of horse-trading to form a coalition that many had expected.
No comments:
Post a Comment