Thailand’s ruling conservative party moves closer to forming new coalition government

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s ruling conservative Bhumjaithai Party on Friday moved closer to forming a new government after the Pheu Thai Party, the third place finisher in the country’s general election, agreed to join it in a proposed ruling coalition.

Bhumjaithai won 193 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives in Sunday’s election, according to unofficial results from the Election Commission, positioning it to return incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnviraku l to office with a Cabinet of his choosing.

The populist Pheu Thai Party, backed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, finished third with 74 seats. Together, the two parties would command 267 seats, surpassing the 251 seats required for a majority. Several smaller parties also pledged their support.

“Bhumjaithai and Pheu Thai will look into the future. We agreed that both our parties have people with abilities great enough to lead Thailand into a stable and sustainable future,” Anutin said in a news conference.

He was joined by Pheu Thai leaders, including Yodchanan Wongsawat, a nephew of Thaksin who had been the party’s candidate for prime minister.

The two parties had previously partnered after the 2023 election, when Pheu Thai — then the second-largest party — led negotiations as the senior partner in their government-to-be.

That alliance collapsed last year following controversy surrounding then-Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter, over border tensions with Cambodia. Anutin then secured enough parliamentary support in September to become prime minister.

Addressing their past disputes on Friday, Anutin said that "We must erase everything and move forward.”

Bhumjaithai has announced that six smaller parties with a combined eight seats have also pledged to join its coalition.

The progressive People’s Party, which finished second with 118 seats, has ruled out joining a Bhumjaithai government.

Pheu Thai’s result was considered its worst performance in decades. Electoral politics since 2001 had been dominated by populist parties loyal to Thaksin, who served as prime minister until he was ousted by an army coup in 2006, setting off a tussle for power against Thailand’s conservative royalist-military establishment.

The party alienated some pro-democracy supporters in 2023 by breaking its campaign promise not to align with pro-military parties and instead formed a government including them.

Last year it angered conservatives when Paetongtarn was found to be too chummy with Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen in a leaked phone call. She was kicked out of office for an ethics violation, giving Anutin his chance to take her place.

“For the first time in its history, (Pheu Thai) will be a mid-sized party that can at most play the role of a junior coalition partner," said Ken Lohatepanont, a University of Michigan doctoral candidate in an online commentary on Thai politics. Especially galling was losing all the seats it had held in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thaksin’s hometown.

He and other election observers suggest that for Bhumjaithai to establish a more stable government, it will invite another major partner — either the fourth-place Kla Tham Party, with 58 seats, or the Democrat Party, Thailand’s oldest, with 22.

Thailand’s business conmmunity hailed Bhumjaithai’s decisive victory, with the hope that it would bring stability as the country struggles with a lagging economy.

Negotiations on forming a new government unfolded amid mounting allegations of electoral irregularities, prompting frustrated voters to stage protests in several parts of the country. Demonstrators called for recounts and, in some constituencies, fresh by-elections.

The Asian Network for Free Elections, one of the observer groups in the polls, said the vote was conducted in a generally peaceful and orderly manner. But it flagged “procedural irregularities in several polling stations,” including inadequate public information and inconsistent access for election observers.

The legal monitoring group iLaw, which also observed the election, reported receiving more than 4,000 complaints. These included cases where the number of ballots exceeded the number of eligible voters, officials denying observers access to vote counting, disputes over recount requests, and inaccuracies in the recording of final tallies.

Election results must be certified within 60 days of the election before Parliament can convene and elect a new prime minister.

FILE - Pheu Thai Party's prime ministerial candidate Yodchanan Wongsawat attends an election campaign rally in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan, File)

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s High Court ruled Friday that the government’s decision to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful, but it kept the ban in place pending another hearing while the government prepares an appeal.

Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said “the nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities” did not meet the "level, scale and persistence" that would justify proscription.

The judges said they were "satisfied that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was disproportionate."

The government banned Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June to protest British military support for Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, which killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The government declared the pro-Palestinian direct-action group a terrorist organization alongside the likes of al-Qaida and Hamas, making membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Since then, more than 2,700 people have been arrested at protests for holding signs saying “I support Palestine Action.” More than 250 have been charged under the Terrorism Act.

Supporters of Palestine Action and civil liberties groups say the arrests for peaceful protest ride roughshod over free speech and the right to protest.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said the decision “is a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history.”

Yasmine Ahmed, U.K. director of Human Rights Watch, called the court ruling “a shot in the arm for British democracy.” She said the British government had used antiterror legislation to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “disappointed by the court’s decision and disagree with the notion that banning this terrorist organization is disproportionate.”

“The proscription does not prevent peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, another point on which the court agrees," she said, adding: “I intend to fight this judgment in the Court of Appeal.”

Palestine Action has carried out direct action protests at military and industrial sites in the U.K. since it formed in 2020, including breaking into facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK. Officials say the group’s actions have caused millions of pounds in damage that affect national security.

In their ruling, the judges said that while “a very small number of its actions have amounted to terrorist action ... regardless of proscription, the criminal law is available to prosecute those concerned.”

The justices said they would not quash the ban until a further hearing on whether it should stay in place "pending the possibility of an appeal." They gave lawyers for the two sides until Feb. 20 to prepare for that hearing.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said that in light of the judgment, officers would not arrest people expressing support for Palestine Action, but would continue to gather evidence of offenses “to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date.”

Supporters of Palestine Action stage a protest outside the Royal Court of Justice in London, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Supporters of Palestine Action stage a protest outside the Royal Court of Justice in London, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Supporters of Palestine Action stage a protest outside the Royal Court of Justice in London, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Supporters of Palestine Action stage a protest outside the Royal Court of Justice in London, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Protesters hold placards outside the High Court, in London, Friday Feb. 13, 2026, where Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn have ruled in favour of Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori's challenge over the ban of the organisation as a terror group. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)