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28 การศึกษาความเคลื่อนไหวทางการเมืองและพฤติกรรมการเลือกตั้ง
สมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎร 2562 กรุงเทพมหานคร
3.2) The Pheu Thai Party survived and developed a new electoral strategy to
deal with pressure from the political regime and the unfavorable conditions
resulting from the institutional arrangements for the election. Some members
left the party to form an allied party, Thai Raksa Chat, to run in the areas where
Pheu Thai did not field candidates, mostly because Pheu Thai lost in those areas
in the last election. The new MMP election system would favor Thai Raksa Chat
to capture the Pheu Thai supporters in those area and convert those votes into
party list seats. Despite the dissolution of the Thai Raksa Chat party at the very
end of election campaign period, Pheu Thai still won nine seats (in contrast to
the 10 seats they had won in the previous election) and the party won in an
area where they had previously lost.
3.3) The Palang Pracharat Party had an advantage, as it was part of the incumbent
political regime, and it gained further advantage from the new electoral system.
The Palang Prachart Party was also able to seize existing local electoral
networks of the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties. The Palang Prachart Party also
leveraged the popularity of General Prayut (the junta head and prime minister
at the time of the election) and the popularity of a controversial direct money
transfer program to the poor (Government Welfare Registration Program -
the so-called Poor Card).
3.4) The Future Forward Party successfully turned the crisis generated by the political
restructuring into an opportunity to make a new social movement in the form
of a new political party that embraced a new political identity characterized
by the new generation, hope, and change. The Future Forward Party also made
considerable use of new technology, new media, and political innovation.
The popularity of the Future Forward Party drew criticism and political attacks
from other progressive groups and those who supported the coup regime.
