Thailand election: Will military elite let opposition take power?

Al Jazeera News:

Bangkok, Thailand – The crowd of thousands in central Bangkok erupted into deafening cheers at the arrival of Pita Limjaroenrat, the politician who led his party to a stunning victory over the military-backed groups that have dominated Thai politics for nearly a decade.

Smiling and waving from the back of a pick-up truck, the charismatic 42-year-old businessman led a short victory rally on Monday from Bangkok’s Democracy Monument to a plaza in front of the capital’s Metropolitan Administration Office, where he declared a “new day, bright with hope” for the people of Thailand.

“Anything is possible in our country when we all work together,” he told a sea of supporters clad in the party’s signature orange. “The next prime minister of Thailand will be named Pita Limjaroenrat and soon, we will change this country together.”

Hours before, the Elections Commission had declared Pita’s Move Forward Party the biggest winner in the general election held on Sunday. The progressive party, contesting elections for the first time, took 151 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives after campaigning on a bold platform of reforms to the monarchy and the military.

The populist opposition Pheu Thai came in second with 141 seats. The two parties have now agreed to begin coalition talks. But even with their stunning majority, it remains unclear if the royalist-military elite — who have staged two coups in the past 20 years — will hand over power easily.

Several roadblocks lie in Move Forward’s path to Bangkok’s Government House.

Chief among them are parliamentary rules that allow a military-appointed Senate an outsized role in choosing the next prime minister. But the ambitions of Move Forward’s potential coalition partner, Pheu Thai, may also yet prove to be an obstacle.