21-02-2025, 05:59 PM
Centrist Parties Form Government After Snap Election Victory
Udon Nakhon Post
August 5619
This month's snap elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Duangnet Bunnag in the continued fallout of the Kaeyaphum rail bridge collapse last November have yielded a slim majority for the center-left New Elephant Worker's Party (NEWP) and the centrist Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (PIE). President Nantakarn met with leaders of the NEWP, which won a plurality of seats in the National Assembly (161 seats [32%], up from 95 [19%]), to offer his congratulations and request that NEWP chairwoman Chandra Srisai propose a government for his approval.
Srisai, a member of the National Assembly for sixteen years, accepted the request and NEWP and PIE teams undertook negotiations that lasted nearly three days. Last night NEWP leadership proposed, and President Nantakarn approved a cabinet led by Srisai and composed of 10 NEWP and 8 PIE ministers in addition to the PM. The governing coalition controls only 254 of the 501 National Assembly seats (NEWP 161, PIE 93), leading many experts to predict further uncertainty in the capital after years of instability under various left-wing coalitions.
The NEWP's ascent is largely the result of the electoral collapse of outgoing-PM Bunnag's Revolutionary Alliance, which sank to a record low 66 seats after revelations of corruption and coverup by the erstwhile PM and outgoing-Transport Minister Tam Kosaisook.
Srisai, a member of the National Assembly for sixteen years, accepted the request and NEWP and PIE teams undertook negotiations that lasted nearly three days. Last night NEWP leadership proposed, and President Nantakarn approved a cabinet led by Srisai and composed of 10 NEWP and 8 PIE ministers in addition to the PM. The governing coalition controls only 254 of the 501 National Assembly seats (NEWP 161, PIE 93), leading many experts to predict further uncertainty in the capital after years of instability under various left-wing coalitions.
The NEWP's ascent is largely the result of the electoral collapse of outgoing-PM Bunnag's Revolutionary Alliance, which sank to a record low 66 seats after revelations of corruption and coverup by the erstwhile PM and outgoing-Transport Minister Tam Kosaisook.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Udon Nakhon, Prime Minister Srisai stated that the new government would set to work on rebuilding trust in government and restoring the pride of all South Dovanians.
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