Thailand's Yingluck announces coalition
Leader of victorious Pheu Thai party and sister of ousted PM lines up five partners for new government.
A day after she led Pheu Thai party to a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra has announced a new five-party coalition government.
Yingluck, a sister of the ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, unveiled an agreement on Monday where the new coalition will control about 60 per cent of parliament, or 299 seats.
Pheu Thai won a majority of 265 in the 500-seat parliament - a margin big enough to rule alone without forming a coalition - and Yingluck is poised to become Thailand's first female prime minister.
Sunday's vote was the first major electoral test for Thailand since last year's mass opposition rallies in Bangkok, which sparked a military crackdown that left at least 91 people dead.
Earlier on Monday Abhisit Vejjajiva, the outgoing prime minister, resigned from leadership of the Democrat party, taking responsibility for his party's loss.
"As the election results came out with the party winning fewer votes and fewer seats than in the 2007 poll, and in the spirit of a good leader of an organisation, I should take responsibility," he said.
Abhisit said the Democrats will hold a general meeting within 90 days to choose a successor.
Self-imposed exile
Thailand has been suffering from political instability for the past six years after Thaksin was deposed in a 2006 military coup under accusations of corrupt ruling.
He has since been living in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, in a self-imposed exile, but continuing to wield significant influence on Thai politics from afar.
Critics of Yinigluck have voiced concerns that she might function as a power proxy for her older brother, or perhaps facilitating his return home.
Thaksin has praised the election results but denied rumours of his immediate homecoming, calling it "not a major concern" nor "a priority".
"The top priority is to bring back reconciliation," he said in an interview from Dubai to a Thai broadcaster on Monday.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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