Thaksin Shinawatra

With ballot counting finished in 90 percent of Thai constituencies, an official declaration of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party's victory will not be made for weeks, officials said Feb. 8.

Unofficial results compiled by a pool of local media, with 64 percent of ballots counted, showed Thaksin's ruling party had won 373 out of 500 parliamentary seats, the main opposition Democrat Party, 95, and TRT coalition partner Chart Thai, 25.

Thaksin told reporters Thailand's 63 million people would enjoy strong and purposeful leadership in his next term.

The first elected Thai leader to complete a full term, he has promised to eradicate poverty, spend $60 billion on new infrastructure and push ahead with privatizing state firms despite fierce opposition from unions.

Some 33 million voters, or 76 percent of eligible voters, cast ballots in the election, in which Thaksin claimed victory hours after polls closed.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 12, 2005
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