Asia

Thai parties hold final campaign rallies before election

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of the Palang Pracharat Party delivers a speech to supporters, during an election campaign rally in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 22, 2019. The political movement that has won every Thai election in nearly two decades is facing its biggest test yet: Squaring off against the allies of the military junta that removed it from power and rewrote the electoral rules with the goal of putting an end to those victories. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand's main political parties have held their final major rallies ahead of Sunday's general election, urging their supporters on and highlighting policies they hope will bring them victory.

The polls follow five years of military rule that began with a coup during a long-running battle for power between supporters and opponents of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by an earlier coup in 2006.

The main parties' prime ministerial candidates spoke at rallies held in stadiums in Bangkok. They included Prayuth Chan-ocha, who heads the current military regime, and Sudarat Keyuraphan, representing Thaksin's political machine, the army's main antagonist.