Junta-ruled Thailand held its first vote since a 2014 coup on Sunday, with a military-backed party and its main rival linked to a self-exiled billionaire both claiming the right to govern.

Full official results have not yet been released but questions are mounting over election irregularities that may have skewed initial numbers.

A Thai official said Thursday that nine people were arrested for sharing fake news on Facebook claiming two election commissioners had been sacked and that 600,000 illegitimate ballots were mixed into the vote count.

They were charged Wednesday under the Computer Crimes Act “for sharing or onpassing false information”, said Siriwat Deephor, a spokesman for the Computer Crime Suppression Division Police.

“They confessed and said they didn’t know that it was fake news,” he added.

The accused face up to five years in jail and a $3,100 fine.

The Election Commission has said it would stagger announcements of the official results in the coming weeks, claiming “human error” in calculating ballots in some areas.

Preliminary figures show the military-aligned Phalang Pracharat party leading in the popular vote with nearly eight million ballots.

But its main rival Pheu Thai — the party linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra — has formed a seven-member coalition and claimed a majority of seats in the lower house.

In order to appoint a prime minister, the winning party must clinch more than half of the 750 seats in the combined lower and upper houses.

But all 250 seats in the upper house are military-appointed thanks to a charter passed by the junta, meaning non-aligned parties need an avalanche of votes to control the government.

The Election Commission is expected to release more results on Friday which could clarify the outcome of the vote.

Rights groups say the Computer Crimes law provides broad powers to crack down on online content and to target regime critics.

The head of the millennial-friendly Future Forward Party, poised to become Thailand’s third largest faction, was accused of violating the act after a Facebook live broadcast criticised the junta last year.

A decision on whether to indict him and two other party members has been delayed until April.

Pheu Thai and five other parties held a press conference on Wednesday to declare that they would be standing together to fight against the junta’s moves to retain power, claiming that they already had the support of at least 255 MPs to form a coalition.

The bloc, based on unofficial poll results, includes Pheu Thai (137 seats), Future Forward (88), Puea Chart (5), Prachachat (7), Seri Ruam Thai (12), Phalang Puang Chon (1), with New Economics Party as the seventh member with six seats.

However, neither Mingkwan nor his party colleagues showed up at the conference, and their absence obviously raised doubts about which side New Economics Party was planning to be on.

Later that day, Mingkwan told the media that he could not attend the conference because he had a prior appointment with a “phu yai” or a senior person.

“Even though I didn’t show up, don’t be afraid. Our stance remains the same,” he said.

“Our will is clear, we adhere to the democratic system with the King as head of the state.”

But when asked if he had been contacted by Phalang Pracharat, he mysteriously said: “You’d better know the answer. I don’t have to reply.”

With such unclear responses, his remarks were interpreted very differently by mainstream and social media. Some were convinced he would join Pheu Thai, while others thought he was still hedging his bets.

Two Thai newspapers’ headlines on Thursday show that they interpreted Mingkwan Sangsuwan’s interview very differently. The headline on the left says “Mingkwan joins Pheu Thai”, but the one on the right says “Mingwan runs away from Pheu Thai”. 

However, on the eve of Sunday’s elections, Mingkwan – in a Facebook post – declared that his party would not work with Phalang Pracharat because their ideologies were very different.

He also said that he was willing to work with the pro-democracy camp, but if “the side that claims to be democratic is not honest and corrupt, we will pull out immediately”.

Two days after the election, the party again posted a photograph of Mingkwan with a caption saying New Economics’ policies remain unchanged.

Mingkwan, a marketing guru, is a familiar face in the Thaksin Shinawatra-backed camp.

During Thaksin’s administration under the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, Mingkwan worked with then-finance minister Somkid Jatusripitak to promote tourism in Thailand. Somkid is deputy PM in the current junta-led government.

Mingkwan was then appointed as head of the economics team of the now-defunct Thaksin-backed People Power Party’s government. He also held several ministerial posts during that time.

He then joined Pheu Thai and was given the job to lead the opposition party to grill then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in a no-confidence vote.

However, during Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration, Mingkwan was not given a position in the government or a role in the party. He finally left Pheu Thai in late 2013, before returning to politics last year.

AS THE TUG of war between the pro-junta and anti-junta camps continues after the elections, with both sides declaring victory and claiming the right to form the government, a scholar said the principles of parliamentary system favoured the party with the most seats, rather than the popular vote winner.

Hours after Pheu Thai-led pro-democracy parties yesterday announced they had at least 255 MPs and were ready to form a coalition, the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party also held a press conference, claiming Pheu Thai was bluffing as the election results had yet to be finalised.

“They were just taking the opportunity to announce they have mustered a majority of constituency MPs, but the process is not finished yet,” Phalang Pracharat’s secretary-general Sontirat Sontijirawong said. “In reality, the Election Commission [EC] still has to announce the final results. The figures change every day.”

He added that this was not the time to claim victory, as the contest had not ended yet.

Sontirat called on the anti-junta bloc to stop exploiting the term “democracy”, and pointed out that his party – which backs General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s return as prime minister – had also “democratically” won 7.9 million votes.

“Democracy is about respecting the people’s decision,” Sontirat said. “Phalang Pracharat is also a pro-democracy party.”

Party leader Uttama Savanayana backed his colleague, saying Phalang Pracharat was in talks with like-minded parties about forming a government.

“We still have some time and don’t need to rush,” he said, refusing to name the parties Phalang Pracharat was in talks with.

However, both Sontirat and Uttama were reluctant to confirm if their party would be able to bring together more than 250 MPs to form a coalition.

Awaiting official count on seats

The EC has yet to announce the official number of MP seats won by each party. Though Phalang Pracharat has won the most votes, initial calculations show its share in the Lower House is 97 seats versus Pheu Thai’s 137.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai led six other parties to issue a statement saying they would stand against the junta’s moves to retain power, claiming they already had the support of at least 255 MPs.

The anti-junta bloc consists of Future Forward, Puea Chart, Prachachat, Seri Ruam Thai, Phalang Puang Chon and New Economics parties.

Though no representatives of the New Economics Party showed up at the press conference yesterday, it has been confirmed that their six successful MPs will join the anti-junta coalition.

The anti-junta bloc also declared yesterday that the more than 14 million votes won by them proved the public had given them the mandate to overthrow the coup-installed regime.

The party leaders yesterday also pressured parties sitting on the fence to respect voters and join efforts to stop the junta from retaining power.

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Jungroongruangkit said yesterday that Pheu Thai’s de facto leader, Khunyin Sudarat Keyuraphan, was the most suitable candidate for the government’s top job, though Pheu Thai said the nomination of the PM will be discussed after a coalition has been formed.

There has been talk that Pheu Thai may be saving the top post for Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charanvirakul, whose party has won over 50 seats, in a move to secure the formation of a coalition and effectively block the pro-junta camp.

However, Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said yesterday that the party has never indicated it would support Anutin.

As for Phalang Pracharat claiming victory in popular votes, Pornson Liengboonlertchai, an expert from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science, said this claim does not match constitutional principles.

The Constitution says the country is run under a “representative democratic” system as opposed to a “direct democracy”, he said, adding that it is constitutional convention that the party with the highest number of MPs reserves the right to form a government.

THAIS living in New Zealand have slammed the Election Commission (EC) for voiding their ballots and are demanding that their rights as Thai citizens be respected.

They also said that the EC’s excuse for nullifying their ballots – delay in shipping – was not their fault.

On Tuesday, the EC declared that 1,542 advance votes cast by Thais living in New Zealand were void as they arrived after counting began on Sunday at 5pm. It cited an electoral law for this decision.

Auckland University student Thanawee Thungthong posted a video clip saying that she was a first-time voter and was disappointed that her vote was not being counted.

“The decision to annul the votes of Thais in New Zealand is not fair. The 1,542 Thais in New Zealand have to bear the burden of mistakes by officials. We did not cause these problems,” she said.

Another student Thanyakorn Piyapattanakul, 20, said Thais living in New Zealand had every intention of exercising their right, adding some had travelled long distances to cast their vote.

“Travelling to the polling station cost money and time for some, but we all wanted to exercise our right. But now, our votes have been declared void by the EC. It is not fair,” she said, calling on the EC to review its decision.

Democrat executive Rames Rattanachaveng also called on the EC yesterday to review its decision to reject the ballots cast in New Zealand,

The EC had based its decision on an organic law on MP elections, which says that ballots arriving after vote counting begins will be declared void. However, he pointed out that the ballots in question can only be declared void if there is solid evidence of fraud, and in this case, the reason for the delay is still unclear.

Meanwhile, the concerned organisations, namely the Thai Embassy in New Zealand, the Foreign Ministry and Thai Airways International (THAI), have taken turns in defending themselves. The national carrier issued its second statement yesterday detailing the shipping process.

It said the Thai Embassy in Wellington shipped the ballots to Auckland on March 19 by New Zealand Air, and the cargo arrived at 6.44pm local time. However, the cargo was not handed over to THAI on the same day as scheduled and was instead held by New Zealand Air until March 21. It was only after a THAI cargo official in Auckland asked New Zealand Air about the ballots on March 22 did the airline hand the cargo over.

The shipment was further delayed as claiming the cargo from New Zealand Air took longer than expected. This is why the ballots arrived in Thailand late at night on March 23, which resulted in them not being delivered in time for counting, the statement said.

At least seven political parties yesterday sent their representatives to lodge complaints with the EC, seeking an explanation for the slow pace of ballot counting and irregularities.

The EC would take time to investigate all the 146 complaints but would complete it before the official deadline for the announcement of election results on May 9, secretary-general Jarungwit Phumma said.

He said the commission will examine votes for all candidates and announce the results and other information about the polling to the public tomorrow.

Six parties – Pheu Thai, Future Forward, Seri Ruam Thai, Prachachart, Puea Chat and Phalang Puangchon Thai – had signed in a petition addressed to the EC, urging the agency to disclose the complete vote tally immediately and also count the 1,542 delayed ballots from New Zealand.

Meanwhile, the Democrat Party has called on the EC to respect the rights of Thai voters in New Zealand after the commission’s decision not to count them. The New Economics Party yesterday asked the commission to calculate the number of party-list seats.

Pheu Thai spokesperson Ladawan Wongsriwong said the public expected to know the final results of the voting two days after the election.

With 95 per cents of the ballots counted, Pheu Thai claimed victory in 137 constituencies and led a coalition of seven parties to compete with the pro-junta camp to form the government.

Future Forward spokesperson Pannika Wanich said the commission’s performance did not deserve the Bt5.8-billion budget allocated to them from taxpayers’ money. “In previous elections, people knew the final results of the ballot counting within seven hours of the poll stations closing,” she said.

Activist Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for Protection of the Thai Constitution, said yesterday that he will collect the signatures of at least 20,000 voters to back his petition to impeach the election commissioners for misconduct after EC decided not to count the ballots from New Zealand, because they were delayed. The campaign will kick off on Sunday at Talad Mai Don Muang, he said.

Former red-shirt leader Thida Thawornseth submitted an open letter to the commission, seeking clarifications over 11 irregularities, including the restricting observers, not showing invalid ballot cards and not allowing representatives of political parties to take pictures in the polling stations.

The Thammasat University Students Union yesterday denounced the EC for its inefficient and opaque work during the election.

EC president Ittiporn Boonpracong said yesterday the agency took the blame for some of the problems found during the election but rejected speculation that the irregularities could lead to the annulling of the election.

“The results of the ballot tally have been shown at polling stations since the beginning and the people or political parties can check there,” he said. “The result is now being transferred to the commission at the provincial levels and to the EC headquarters eventually.”

Asked if the commissioners would be impeached, Ittiporn said the commission would do its best to fix up all the problems first. “The rest is up to the situation in the future,” he said.

The pro-junta party won 14 constituency MP seats in the capital, more than any other party.

Party leader Uttama Savanayana told gathered crowds that Phalang Pracharat was ready to form the core of the next government, which would ensure peace and a strong economy.

“Thanks for supporting PM Prayut to continue as prime minister and move the country forward, not backwards to fighting and conflict,” Uttama said of Prayut Chan-o-cha, the party’s nominee for premier.