Thai opposition sweeps to victory

                    Yingluck Shinawatra: "The first priority is the economy"

The party allied to ousted and exiled ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra has won a major victory in Thailand's general election, provisional results show.
According to the BBC, with most votes counted, outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has conceded victory to his rival, opposition leader Yingluck Shinawatra.
Ms Yingluck, who will become Thailand's first female prime minister, said there was "a lot of hard work ahead".

She is the younger sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup in 2006.
With 92% of votes counted, Ms Yingluck's Pheu Thai party had won 260 seats, giving it a majority in the 500-seat parliament.
"It is now clear from the election results so far that the Pheu Thai party has won the election, and the Democrat Party concedes defeat," Abhisit said on national TV.

Yingluck Shinawatra is a political novice. Her popularity has largely rested on the fact that she has been selling her brother's policies.
Thaksin, speaking from self-imposed exile in Dubai, has said he wants to return to Thailand but will wait for the right moment.
Analysts say his return would aggravate the already tense political situation.
It could be a potentially destabilising factor, making it harder for the new government to get on with its task of reuniting this divided nation and healing Thailand's wounded democracy.
"I will give the chance to Yingluck, the first woman to form a government," he added. "I want to see unity and reconciliation. The Democrats are ready to be in opposition."
After Abhisit admitted defeat, Miss Yingluck was cautious in her response. She thanked Abhisit and said she would wait for the official results to be declared.
"I don't want to say it is victory for me and the Pheu Thai party but people are giving me a chance and I will work to my best ability for the people," she said at her party headquarters.

"I would like to reiterate that we are ready to deliver on all of the policies that we have announced. There is a lot of hard work ahead."
She said her party officials had been in talks with the smaller Chart Thai Pattana party with a view to forming a coalition.
"In the future there are more parties expected to come and work with Pheu Thai," she said.
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says the result is a clear rejection of the military's intervention in Thai politics and a bitter disappointment for Abhisit.

Thaksin told the BBC from his self-imposed exile in Dubai that it was clear the Thai people had voted for change.
"They want to see reconciliation, we want to have reconciliation," Thaksin told the Newshour programme.
All parties will have to respect the voters' decision, he said.
Thaksin, whose government was toppled in a military coup in 2006, said the military should also "be listening to what the people think".

Asked whether he would now be returning to Thailand, the former prime minister said he was in "no hurry".
"I want to see reconciliation really happen," he said. "I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."
The past few years have seen street protests, airport closures and clashes between the supporters of the two main groups, which our correspondent says have tarnished the country's economy and reputation for being a bastion of democracy in south-east Asia. culled from thisdaynews