Final count of 1st vote since coup leaves Thailand divided

Thailand's Election Commission on Wednesday announced the final results of the March 24 general election the first since a military coup in 2014 that gave no party an absolute majority and likely will prompt legal challenges.

The commission distributed 150 party list seats in the 500-member House of Representatives under a complicated formula related to each party's nationwide popular vote total. Twenty-six parties were granted seats, 14 of them one apiece, while one seat was held open pending a re-vote in one constituency where the winning candidate was disqualified.

The commission's failure to clearly explain its formula had led to suspicions it might fiddle with the total. It has already been heavily criticized for releasing delayed and confusing preliminary vote totals, and was accused of tilting in favor of the military-backed Palang Pracharath party.

Palang Pracharath was awarded 18 party list seats Wednesday, while the rival Pheu Thai party associated with fugitive former Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra received none.

On Tuesday, each party was allocated its share of the 350 constituency seats. Pheu Thai topped the field by winning 136 constituencies, while Palang Pracharath was second with 97 seats, though it received the most popular votes.

Neither party received a majority, and both are attempting to put together coalitions with smaller parties to form a government.

The explanation of the party list formula released by the Election Commission before the polls, as generally understood, would have denied seats to many of the smaller parties awarded them Wednesday. The formula as applied Wednesday instead benefited them, at the apparent expense of parties allied with Pheu Thai.

Pheu Thai issued a statement saying the Election Commission "deliberately intended to commit wrongdoing and misused its power, violating the constitution and the law. The party will later take legal measures in every aspect against the EC."
Party Secretary-General Piyabutr Saengkanokkul called the commission's calculations "absurd."