Anti-Junta Party Says It Won Thai Election

Thailand's election commission says it will release full vote counts from the first election since a 2014 coup on Friday as an anti-junta party claimed it won the most seats and will try to form a government.The commission said Monday it will announce the results of 350 constituency seats later in the day but full vote counts, which are needed to determine the allocation of 150 other seats in parliament, won't be available for several days, the AP reports. The Pheu Thai party, which was ousted from government in the coup, said it won the most constituency seats in Sunday's election and will try to form a government with similar-minded parties.

Unofficial results show the military-backed Palang Pracharat party won the popular vote. Coup leader and prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha took full advantage of five years of junta rule to change the constitution and election laws to stack the electoral odds against anti-junta parties. Palang Pracharat's lead in the vote tallies and the Election Commission's delay in releasing complete results have sparked suspicion of irregularities in the counting. Election cheating was the top trending topic on Twitter for Bangkok. The Pheu Thai party has also voiced concerns and wants to inspect disqualified ballots, which are more than a million in number. (A princess who hoped to be prime minister was disqualified after her brother spoke out.)