BANGKOK (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Thailand dismissed claims of U.S. interference in recent elections as a “disservice” to the Thai people, saying Tuesday that Washington does not support any candidate or individual political party.
Claims of US meddling in the May 14 vote have since increased the opposition party Move Forward emerged as the top vote-getter and another opposition party came secondraising the possibility of a new coalition government which could take power from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
The Move Forward Party is nominally considered more pro-American than Prayuth, a former general who came to power in a military coup nine years ago, and claims of US interference in the election are widely seen as originating from supporters of the current status quo.
BANGKOK (AP) – Myanmar’s military government has revoked its approval for international organizations to distribute food, shelter and medicine to thousands of residents in cyclone-hit areas in the country’s west, a Myanmar agency said Friday. UN
The leader of the opposition Progressive Party that won a surprise victory in Thailand’s national election says eight parties have agreed to form a coalition government with him as prime minister.
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s progressive party Move Forward held its first face-to-face discussions with five other parties on Wednesday in an attempt to form a coalition government, three days after winning a surprise victory in national elections.
Thailand’s opposition has amassed a stunning majority of the 500 seats up for grabs in the race for the House of Representatives, dealing a major blow to the establishment parties and the former general who has led the Southeast Asian country since seized power in a coup in 2014.
A small group of protesters even demonstrated outside the US embassy in April, accusing Washington of interfering in Thailand’s political affairs.
At a panel discussion with dozens of Thai journalists, Ambassador Robert Godec said when asked about the rumors and conspiracy theories that they “do a disservice to the tens of millions who participated in the political process as voters, as election officials, as poll watchers.”
“Given the persistent and pernicious conspiracy theories, let me be clear,” Godec said. “We categorically reject the false rumors that the United States interfered in the Thai election.”
Partit Avança has signed an agreement with seven other parties on a joint platform that they hope will lead to the formation of a coalition government in July. He made no mention of Move Forward’s controversial call to amend a tough law against criticism of the country’s monarchy, a stance that has angered Thai conservatives.
However, it included several of Move Forward’s core policies, such as the drafting of a new, more democratic constitution, the passage of a same-sex marriage law, the decentralization of administrative power, and the transition of military conscription to voluntary enlistment “except when the country is at war.”
It also calls for reforms of the police, the army, the civil service and the justice process, the abolition of business monopolies and the re-establishment of controls on the production and sale of marijuana after its poorly executed de facto decriminalization in past
It is still not certain, however, that the coalition can take power. He controls a strong majority in the country’s lower house, but under the military-drafted constitution, the prime minister is selected by a joint vote of the lower house and the Senate, whose members were appointed by the military government after the coup.
Godec emphasized that the US has been working with the current government for years and that Prayuth visited the White House last year along with other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He also said Washington will continue to work with the Thai government, whoever is in power.
“The United States does not have a favorite candidate, we do not have a favorite political party in Thailand,” he said. “What we do is support the democratic process. Only the Thai people should choose the government.”
