Thai PM concedes defeat in key election

Puea Thai Party's Yingluck Shinawatra waves to supporters gathered outside party headquarters in Bangkok on July 3, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/187359.html

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has conceded defeat in Thailand's hotly contested general elections after the main opposition party heads for a landslide victory.

"The outcome is clear -- Puea Thai has won the election and the Democrats are defeated," Vejjajiva told supporters at the party's Bangkok headquarters on Sunday.

With nearly all of the votes counted Puea Thai has secured 261 of parliament's 500 seats.

The ruling Democrat party is in second place but ahead in the capital Bangkok.

Pheu Thai, described by many as a proxy party for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is being led by his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

A victory for the party could mean a political comeback for the exiled premier.

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup. He has been living in Dubai since.

Thaksin remains hugely popular among the rural poor, who have staged frequent rallies calling for his return to power.