Thailand's 1st election since military coup: Prayuth poised to keep power

Tallies from local media outlets showed Palang Pracharath winning 146 seats, enough to install Prayuth under Thailand's election rules

A political party created by Thailand’s ruling military government was leading in the first election since a 2014 coup, putting junta chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha (pictured) in position to return as prime minister.

Palang Pracharath won 7.5 million votes with 92 per cent counted, according to unofficial results posted on the Election Commission’s Facebook page. Pheu Thai, a political party linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, came in second with 7.05 million votes. The Election Commission plans to announce seat totals at 2 pm on Monday.

Tallies from local media outlets showed Palang Pracharath winning 146 seats, enough to install Prayuth under Thailand’s