BANGKOK - Early tallies of Thailand’s general election on Sunday indicate voters’ desire for change with the country’s pro-democracy opposition parties leading the polls.

Although vote counting is still under way, initial counts of the popular vote by the election commission at around 11pm local time (midnight Singapore time) put main opposition party Pheu Thai and progressive opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) in the lead with about six million ballots each in the popular vote.

Similarly, counting by local media agencies and volunteers monitoring the poll put the two parties as front runners in the initial results.

According to unofficial estimates by local media Thai PBS, the two opposition groups have bagged almost 300 of the 500 seats contested in the election.

Trailing behind are conservative parties like incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s United Thai Nation (UTN) and other incumbent government parties.

“I believe that our seats will be in the three digits. We will be able to form a majority government with Pheu Thai with more than 250 seats,” said MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat, adding later that he was sure the party would get 160 seats.

Mr Pita said that discussions over a possible coalition with Pheu Thai might start on Sunday night at around 11pm, which is when unofficial results from the election commission are supposed to come in.

However only about 60 per cent of the ballots had been counted as at 11pm, said the commission’s website.

At the Pheu Thai press conference late Sunday, which was held by its prime minister nominees Mr Srettha Thavisin, a 60-year-old former property mogul, and Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 36-year-old business executive and daughter of Thaksin, the party asked reporters to wait for official results on Monday.

Mr Srettha said: “ If Move Forward comes first they have the right to initiate the coalition.”

The election is touted as an opportunity for the country to end the almost decade-long leadership under Mr Prayut, a former army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup against an elected Pheu Thai administration.

He became a civilian prime minister in 2019 after getting re-elected with the support of the pro-military Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), and is now seeking a third term on the ballot of his conservative party UTN.

Mr Prayut had arrived at the UTN headquarters at around 6pm but left at 10pm after attending a meeting with party executives.

Party leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga then fronted a press conference with secretary-general Akanat Promphan. Both men were former MPs with the Democrat party before this.

Mr Pirapan said that while the full results were not out, the party considered itself successful considering it was only established in 2021.

“We are ready to enter politics and we will work to our fullest effort,” said Mr Pirapan, adding that Mr Prayut will continue as the party’s chief strategist. Mr Pirapan also said that the UTN will be able to work as a party in the opposition or the government.

After weeks of campaigning, Sunday’s general election has come down to yet another battle between military-backed conservative parties seeking to preserve the status quo, and the more liberal opposition groups that want change and oppose military intervention in politics.

Pre-election opinion surveys showed opposition parties like Pheu Thai, linked to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the more progressive MFP, as well as their nominated prime ministerial candidates, enjoy immense support with their push for change.

Meanwhile, the conservative parties, including those from the incumbent coalition, like the Bhumjaithai and the PPRP, who are seeking a return to Government House, did not fare as well in popularity polls.

But while Pheu Thai and Thaksin-linked parties have won the most seats in every election since 2001, they have not always been successful at forming the government.

At the last election in 2019, Pheu Thai won the most number of seats in the Lower House with 136 MPs but it was unable to garner enough support to form a coalition to govern the country.

The PPRP, which had won 116 seats in the election, then worked with other parties to secure a majority in the Lower House to lead the government.

The MFP, which has campaigned on reformist policies that call for the end of military conscription and amending the law against royal defamation, is the successor of the Future Forward Party that won 81 seats in 2019. Future Forward was dissolved in 2020 over a loan that was deemed illegal.

Sunday’s polls were held under new rules where voters cast two ballots – one for their choice of constituency candidate and one for the political party they wish to support, also known as the party-list vote.

A total of 500 seats in Parliament’s Lower House are up for grabs, with 400 constituency seats and 100 party-list seats.

Main opposition party Pheu Thai, an offshoot of Thaksin’s defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, has been widely expected to take home the most number of seats, and it had asked the electorate to help it win a “landslide” victory with at least 310 seats.

It promises to uplift the economy and livelihoods with a host of policies to raise wages and stimulate the economy.

These include a one-time 10,000 baht (S$394) giveaway deposited into the digital wallet of every Thai who is 16 and older.

To form the government, a party or a group of parties will need to clinch at least 251 of the 500 Lower House seats, mostly likely through a government coalition.

Pheu Thai has declared that it will not form a government with coup-makers, ruling out an alliance with the UTN and the PPRP.

The process of forming the government could take weeks or months, depending on the results and negotiations between parties, as seen in previous elections.

Once the 500 seats in the Lower House are decided, elected MPs will join the 250 junta-appointed senators to vote for the prospective prime minister.

But with an electoral system heavily stacked in favour of the military-backed parties, non-military affiliated contenders must get at least 376 MPs to secure a win without the Senate’s support.

Pheu Thai’s prime minister nominees are Mr Srettha Thavisin, a 60-year-old former property mogul, and Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a 36-year-old business executive who is the daughter of Thaksin, along with Mr Chaikasem Nitisiri, a 74-year-old former attorney-general.