welcome to bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in thailand where there s huge uncertainty about the country s future direction. the two main opposition parties have agreed to form a ruling coalition. that s after they defeated their military backed rivals in a general election. but thailand s upper house the senate is dominated by the military and they could yet block a reformist prime minister. from bangkok, jonathan head reports. stunned by their success, thailand s youngest and most progressive party came to celebrate at the place they call democracy monument, built to commemorate a democracy that many thais say they have never had. today we have politics driven by hope in this country. they were told by an mp who, like so many in the party, has spent time in jail for his political views. this caught the public s imagination with the boldness and clarity of its manifesto. yes, the new era. you look very happy. yeah. i m startin
announcer: live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in thailand. there s huge uncertainty about the country s future direction. the two main opposition parties have agreed to form a ruling coalition. that s after they defeated their military backed rivals in a general election. but thailand s upper house the senate is dominated by the military, and they could yet block a reformist prime minister. from bangkok, jonathan head reports. stunned by their success, thailand s youngest and most progressive party came to celebrate at the place they call democracy monument, built to commemorate a democracy that many thais say they have never had. today we have politics driven by hope in this country. they were told by an mp who, like so many in the party, has spent time injail for his political views. move forward caught the public s imagination with the boldness and cl
thailand s elections in may peter ridd of the move forward party has failed to win enough support in parliament to become the country s ex prime minister. he needed the endorsement of the unelected senate when members either stayed or voted against him. jonathan head gave us the latest on the political manoeuvring in bangkok. these are all supporters of the reformist party move forward who gathered here at this park at cybertip parliament throughout today to watch the vote as it came in through a big screen behind me and there were cheers every time and mp stood up to support the move forward leader margaret river prime minister with lots of cheers and boos and colourful language every time an mp and particular the unelected senators stood up to oppose him. few people here are surprised by the result. everyone expected this was what would happen and that is what the senate was put therefore by the senate was put therefore by the military government in the past but at the same time many
policies. his party, the move forward party, wants to bring big changes to thailand with plans to reform both the military and the monarchy by changing thailand s very strict laws that criminalize critz simicism of tn a monarchy with long prison terms. he wants to decentralize thailand but he also could be disqualified as a lawmaker over a share holding of a media group issue. the thai constitutional court will review the case next week. but after nearly a decade of turbulent military backed rule, many people across the country are looking forward to a new era. back to you. we ll see what they decide. kristie lu stout, thank you. turning to sports. the magical wimbledon run for chris eubanks has finally come to an end, but not before winning over fans across the
straightforward. indeed. for viewers who may not be so familiar with the situation in thailand, can you explain why the military is so powerful there? well, the military has been powerful ever since 1932 when a coup led to a constitutional monarchy. military and the bureaucracy, the monarchy together have always wielded a lot of power and the military staged more than 30 coups, including most recently in 2014. the two opposition parties that did really well, the move forward party and the peu thai party are both seen as threats not only to the military but to the broader establishment elite.