Pheu Thai's prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaks to the media, after the polling stations closed, on the day of the general elections in Bangkok, Thailand, May 14, 2023. REUTERS
The majority of Thais oppose the leading coalition government proposal, which includes military-backed factions, according to an opinion survey released on Sunday, two days before a legislative vote aimed at ending a three-month political gridlock.
According to the National Institute of Development Administration study, 64% of 1,310 respondents disapproved or strongly disagreed with the concept of the Pheu Thai party creating a “special government” with military-backed competitors.
Thailand has been under a caretaker government for five months and faces prolonged uncertainty after the winner of the May election, Move Forward, was blocked from forming a government by conservative legislators allied with the royalist military.
The second-place Pheu Thai, founded by the family of self-exiled billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, this month took over efforts to form a government.
Pheu Thai, set to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister on Tuesday, needs the support of more than half the bicameral legislature, including the military-appointed Senate.
Also on Tuesday, Thaksin is set to return to Thailand, despite facing a jail sentence, his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, said on Saturday.
Pheu Thai governments were ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014 – which ousted Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, respectively – when the party’s interests clashed with the country’s powerful old money elites and royalist military.
Sunday’s poll found prime ministerial candidate Paetongtarn as the preferred prime minister with 38.6% support, followed by Srettha at 36.6%.
Pheu Thai on Thursday gained support from the military-backed rival United Thai Nation Party. A lawmaker from another pro-military party, Palang Pracharat, said this month the party would back Pheu Thai in trying to the protracted deadlock.