Results were announced from 30% of polling stations, with Anutdin’s Bhumjaithai Party in the lead.

According to preliminary vote counting results, Thailand’s ruling party Pucha Thai Party took an early lead in the general election.

According to partial results released by the country’s electoral commission, about 30% of polling stations had announced results, with the party led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnviraku well ahead of the Progressive People’s Party.

The populist Pheu Thai party is backed by billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Jailed last yearThe results showed that it ranked third.

People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut appeared to admit defeat after the results were announced, telling reporters, “We admit we did not come first.”

“We adhere to the principle of respecting the party that finishes first and its right to form a government,” Ruampayaut said.

However, a three-way fight is unlikely to see any one party win a clear majority, meaning the parties may have to resort to coalitions to form the next government.

bumjetai, considered first choice The leader of the royalist military establishment has focused his campaign on economic stimulus and national security, tapping into nationalist fervor fueled by deadly border clashes with neighboring Cambodia.

Its leader, caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Anutin, took over as prime minister last September after his predecessor, Bai Thongthan Shinawatra, was forced to step down for violating ethics rules.

Threatened by a vote of no confidence, Anutin dissolved the National Assembly, or parliament, in December and called early elections.

Many expect its rival People’s Party, which has pledged to curb the influence of the military and courts and break up economic monopolies, to win a majority. Pheu Pheu Thai campaigned on populist promises of economic recovery and cash handouts.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Bangkok, said there was a sense of “political fatigue” in the run-up to the election, but voters who went to the polls on Sunday remained hopeful about the prospect of change.

constitutional referendum

Thai voters were also asked during the vote to decide whether a 2017 charter should be replaced by a new constitution, a military-backed document that critics say concentrates power in undemocratic institutions, including a powerful Senate elected through an indirect election process with limited public participation.

Early vote counts by the Electoral Commission showed voters favoring constitutional reform by a margin of nearly two to one.

Thailand has had 20 constitutions since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, with most changes following military coups.

If voters support the drafting of a new national charter, the new government and lawmakers can initiate an amendment process in parliament, and two referendums will be needed to adopt a new constitution.

“I believe the party that wins the next election will have a huge influence on the direction of constitutional reform, whether we abandon the constitution drafted by the junta or not,” said Napon Jatusripitak of the Bangkok-based Future of Thailand think tank.