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Thail's general election will kick off on 24 March, voters will choose members of the lower house of parliament and enthusiasm is soaring across the country as the general election is the first since the junta's takeover in 2014. Thousands of candidates are competing for 350 directly elected seats in the lower house,and another 150 are decided through a complex system of proportional representation. As of now, the largest opposition party, the Thai Rak Thai Party headed by Sudarat Keyuraphan , is leading in poll. Sudarat began her political career in 1991, she was elected as the Member of Parliament representing district 12 in Bangkok . In 1992 , Sudarat has been appointed as Deputy Government Spokesmen in Chuan Leekpai’s Government. In 1994, Sudarat has been appointed as the Secretary-General of Palang Dharma Party .She also has been appointed as Deputy Minister of Transport in Chuan Leekpai’s Government. Sudarat has co-founded Thai Rak Thai Party together with Thaksin Shinawatra and 21 other founding members in 1998, she has been appointed as the Deputy Leader of Thai Rak Thai Party, where later the party has successfully won over 61% in 2006 elections and was the largest party in Thailand, and she served as Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives in then government. But the election's outcome will be easy to predict under a junta-scripted constitution, which analysts say was designed to undermine a popular party like Thai Rak Thai and no matter what candidates are elected, the Thail military is likely to keep much of its political power partly due to Thailand's military strongly influenced the writing of the constitution that was accepted in 2017. The constitution gives the military power to appoint all 250 members in parliament's upper house. The constitution also limits the number of lower house members of parliament voters can elect directly.150 are decided through a complex system of proportional representation. The process is expected to lessen the influence of large parties. It is expected that many smaller parties are expected to gain power and form a coalition government. With cliffhanger election looms and record number of Thais turn out for the voting, it is widely believed that retired gen. Prayut, Phalang Pracharat's candidate for prime minister, will win the upcoming election. Phak Phalang Pracharat,i.e.,People's State Power Party, is a Thai pro-military and conservative political party established in 2018 by Chuan Chuchan and Suchart Jantarachotikul and led by former Prayut cabinet ministers Uttama Savanayana, Sontirat Sontijirawong, Suvit Maesincee, and Kobsak Pootrakool. Prayut will stay in power using the changes in the new constitution. Under the 2017 constitution, the senate will be appointed by the NCPO(The National Council for Peace and Order) and will select the prime minister alongside the House of Representatives. Political parties will be able to nominate anyone as their prime minister candidate, including non-party members. Many believe Prayut plans to be selected as prime minister with votes from 250 senators and MPs from pro-junta parties, namely the Phalang Pracharat Party, which has close ties to the junta. Besides the two parties, the rest are the The Democrat Party led by influential political veteran Abhisit Vejjajiva, and The Future Forward Party founded in March 2018 by Thanathorn Juangroongruankit, former Vice President of Thai Summit Group and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, legal scholar. Thail's early voting starts on March 17, and Official election results are expected by May 9.
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