lowly but — it seems — surely, the party backing ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is shaping up to be Thailand’s next government, a stunning reversal of fortune since last year’s military coup.

Nobody doubted that the People Power Party (PPP), the reincarnation of Thaksin’s disbanded Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) political juggernaut, would come first in Sunday’s election.

But after a 15-month army-led campaign to discredit Thaksin and his five years in office, few thought they would come within just eight seats of an outright majority in the 480-member parliament.

Even fewer thought the army, which has obvious reason to be worried about a pro-Thaksin administration, would stand by and let PPP start brokering coalition deals with smaller parties.

Of course, potential hiccups remain, ranging from mass candidate disqualification to another military coup. But as each day passes, the odds on such an upset get longer.

PPP now says it has support from four minor parties, and its refusal to name them for now — a common feature of post-election horsetrading in Thailand — is looking less and less important, especially since at least one party has not denied a deal.

"To create that coalition and actually get it going, the hurdles are relatively few," said Bangkok-based political historian Chris Baker.

Cambodia’s wily and long-serving Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has already offered PPP leader Samak Sundaravej warmest congratulations on a "landslide victory" and said he was looking forward to "working closely" with him.

Source : http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=031030120071223224001

              : http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSBKK28913120071226