PPRP Off'l Backs Keeping Coalition Together, PM's Party To Announce List Decision Saturday

Ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn called for keeping the coalition composed of his party, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha's United Thai Nation Party (UTN) and other minor parties together amid expectations that the main opposition Pheu Thai Party could win a plurality of seats in the May 14 parliamentary election.

• Chaiwut said earlier today that "signs are clear that the old coalition parties want their collaboration to continue because of their good teamwork," adding that the representatives of parties forming the royalist, pro-military coalition are holding regular meetings. He added that the PPRP should win around 150 House seats.
• The opposition is fighting an uphill battle to unseat the incumbent administration, as the elected 500-member House of Representatives and the military-appointed 250-member Senate have an equal say in nominating the Prime Minister, which raises the mathematical threshold for Pheu Thai to form government very high.
• That said, the ruling coalition is trying to prevent a landslide victory by Pheu Thai, which would lay bare a deficit of popular legitimacy months after Premier Prayuth survived a legal challenge to his term limit. The coalition wants to avoid a scenario of having to rely on the Senate to override popular vote and keep it in power.
• It is unclear if Prayuth will stand in the upcoming election. He did not run in the 2019 poll despite being the PPRP's PM candidate. The UTN party will announce whether he will be its leading candidate in the party-list system on Saturday, with analysts noting that it would help him fend off some of the criticism re: his popular mandate.