Thailand Holds Historic Combined Election

(MENAFN) Voters across Thailand went to the polls on Sunday for a surprise nationwide general election alongside a countrywide constitutional referendum, an unprecedented moment in the nation’s political timeline.

Voting locations began operating at 8 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), according to a media outlet.

The polling marked the start of a large-scale democratic exercise involving tens of millions of citizens.

More than 50 million qualified voters are selecting 500 members of parliament from a pool of roughly 5,000 contenders competing for seats in the House of Representatives. This electoral process comes after the lower chamber was dissolved on Dec. 12, cutting short its four-year mandate by a full year.

Of the total parliamentary seats, 400 are being decided through local constituency contests, while the remaining 100 will be distributed among political parties based on proportional representation derived from nationwide party-list ballots.

The final results will shape the formation of the next administration and decide whether interim Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will continue in office.

Observers have broadly characterized Sunday’s polling as a “three-in-one” event, highlighting the first occasion in Thailand’s political history where citizens are both electing legislators and participating in a national referendum on potentially rewriting the 2017 Constitution introduced during military rule.

Each participant is issued three separate ballots: a pink slip for party-list selections, a green one for constituency candidates, and a yellow paper for the constitutional referendum.

Regarding the contest for the premiership, 19 political parties have each nominated the maximum allowable three candidates for prime minister.

Meanwhile, 12 parties have named two nominees apiece, and another 12 have put forward a single candidate. Notably, the most senior contender in the race is 90 years old.

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