Senatorial election result serves up a major surprise
The national round of the senatorial election concluded at 8pm on Friday at Impact Forum in Nonthaburi province. Officials of the Election Commission (EC) started counting votes at 9.40pm and finished at around 5am on Thursday.
2,989 candidates took part in the national-level election on Friday, during which they all voted for their favourite candidates in two rounds - morning and afternoon.
The new Senate will comprise 200 members from 20 professions and succeed the 250 junta-appointed senators whose term expired on May 10.
The official list of 200 winners and another 100 in reserves will be announced today (June 27), the EC said.
From the unofficial vote count, the biggest surprise is that former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat was not among the winners or those in reserve, despite an earlier rumour that he was poised to win and assume the post of Senate speaker.
Somchai, who was competed in professional group 1, Public administration and national security, has a close relationship with the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its patriarch, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who is his brother-in-law.
Meanwhile, former 4th Army Region Commander General Kriangkrai Srirak, a classmate of Deputy PM and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, received the highest votes in group 1 with 74.
In group 4, Public health, former Khon Kaen MP Premsak Piayura was among the winners.
A notable winner in group 7, Non-governmental employees, was Lae Dilokwitthayarat, an economics lecturer at Chulalongkorn University.
Famous winners in group 17: NGOs, include Prapart Pintobtaen, director of Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute, and human rights activist Angkhana Neelaphaijit. Celebrity lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd, meanwhile, was elected as a reserve.
Winners in group 18: Sports, mass media and literature include Chaiyong Maneerungsakul, president of the Southern Press Association, Nanthana Nanthawaropas, dean of Policial Communication College at Krirk University, and Chib Jitniyom, Nation TV’s news anchor and programme host.
In group 20: Others, notable winners include Pol Maj-Gen Yutthana Thaipakdee, former investigator of the government’s rice pledging scheme, and Alongkot Vorakee, former deputy Uthai Thani governor.
