The Election Commission (EC) has rounded off its vote count, revealing an additional constituency MP seat for the Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) at the expense of the Move Forward Party (MFP), according to the EC.
Also, in the list system, the Democrat Party gained an extra seat while the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) lost one from an earlier tentative count.
With the vote count well and truly over, the EC will be releasing official election results in due course after the poll commissioners approve the rounded-off figures. A source said the poll regulator was preparing to officially announce the vote count which has now finished.
For many days after the May 14 polls, the count in the commission’s ECT Report system appeared static at 99%, which showed the MFP, the biggest party to emerge from the election, had received 113 House seats in the constituency method and the BJT, 67 seats.
A delay in the constituency vote count in Prachin Buri’s Constituency 3 had kept the final figure from being finalised. Constituency 3 is where the candidates of the BJT and the MFP were competing neck and neck.
An earlier report showed the MFP candidate had a narrow lead although the complete vote count has instead confirmed a win for the BJT candidate. As such, the MFP’s initial constituency MP tally of 113 seats is now reduced to 112 whereas the BJT’s constituency MP number was bumped up from 67 to 68.
The number of constituency MP seats were tied between the MFP and the Pheu Thai, at 112 each.
When combined with the list-MP seats, the MFP’s overall MP tally stands at 151, Pheu Thai at 141 and Bhumjaithai at 71.
Also, the Democrats have seen their list-MPs rise from two to three, with third place secured by Banyat Bantadtan, a former party leader.
However, that cost the PPRP one of two list seats it was reported to have gained earlier. The party now only has one list seat which goes to its leader, Prawit Wongsuwon.