After a clear election victory, Thailand should already have a new government in office by now with Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister, as his Move Forward Party (MFP) together with opposition ally Pheu Thai Party won a clear mandate of more than 58% of 500 lower house seats. Yet their coalition government in waiting among eight parties with 313 elected representatives is facing several critical roadblocks, including the military-appointed senate and the Election Commission (EC). Public pressure is now needed to be piled on these powerful but biased bodies that were appointed during the coup-dominated era in 2014–2019 to comply with the people's wishes, as expressed at the polls on May 14.
Although the military-inspired 2017 charter allows the EC up to 60 days to certify election results, this long period is not needed. In the 1997 charter, the certification period was just a few days. The emphasis back then was the expeditious process to carry out the electorate's verdict. In the 2007 charter, this post-poll interim became no more than one month.
But this has now been extended up to two months. It was partly a deliberate move to sap the momentum and strong mandate in case any party emerged with a big win. It was also designed to give the EC the latitude and authority to manage the post-poll results. After the March 2019 poll, for example, the EC made rulings that favoured tiny parties that ended up with single MPs who then lined up behind Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Palang Pracharath Party to take office. Also, the EC filed a fatal charge of media share ownership against the leader of the Future Forward Party, Move Forward's forerunner, resulting in the party's dissolution and a 10-year ban on its leaders.
