Thai Exit Polls Show Big Win for Ousted PM's Party

BANGKOK – The opposition party allied to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was poised for landslide victory Sunday in fractious Thailand's elections, easily garnering the majority needed to form a new government, according to two respected exit polls.

The Election Commission has yet to release results, but is expected to do so later Sunday.

If confirmed, the outcome would set the stage for Thaksin's youngest sister, 44-year-old Yingluck Shinawatra, to become the Southeast Asian kingdom's first female prime minister. Such a large mandate to govern could also make it easier to navigate a way out of out of the political crisis that has plagued Thailand since Thaksin was overthrown in a military coup five years ago.

Two respected exit polls were released after polls closed at 3 p.m.

One, the Suan Dusit university poll, gave Yingluck's party 313 of 500 parliament seats, compared to 152 seats for the ruling Democrat party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Another poll by Bangkok's Assumption University gave Pheu Thai 299 seats compared to 132 for the Democrats.

While the vote itself was peaceful, many fear violence could erupt if the outcome is not accepted by party rivals or the coup-prone military.

Holding the ballot was a key demand of anti-government protesters who flooded the streets of Bangkok for two months last year and brought the glittering city to its knees.

Yingluck has long been seen as the front-runner in the race, her popularity largely due to that of her exiled billionaire brother, who is legally barred from politics after a corruption conviction and lives in a luxury residence in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail sentence for graft.

Thaksin's ascent to power in 2001 changed Thailand forever, touching off a societal schism between the country's haves and long-silent have-nots.

The marginalized rural poor hail his populism, while the elite establishment sees him as a corrupt, autocratic threat to the revered monarchy and the status quo.

That schism has played out through pro- and anti-Thaksin street protests since the 2006 coup, and on Sunday it hit the ballot box. The vote, many believe, is largely about the divisive legacy he left behind.