(Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s pro-democracy parties notched a resounding victory in Sunday’s parliamentary vote, setting up the biggest challenge to the royalist-backed establishment since the military seized power in a coup nearly a decade ago.

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With 97% of the vote counted, the liberal Move Forward party and the Pheu Thai party linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra were neck-and-neck. Together they were projected to rack up more than 280 of the 500 seats in the lower house.

Emerging as the biggest winner of the night — with his party taking 32 of 33 constituency seats in Bangkok — Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat was greeted Sunday evening by supporters shouting “Prime minister! prime minister! prime minister!”

“Based on the numbers we’re seeing, Pheu Thai and Move Forward and other opposition parties can form a coalition government,” Pita said in a briefing soon after polls closed, clarifying that no coalition talks had yet occurred. “The current opposition parties are the right answer for the people. We’ll stick to that message. There’s no need to include others.”

Move Forward’s performance, in particular, marks a sharp shift away from the populist agendas that have dominated Thai politics for two decades as its leaders pledged to alter laws protecting the monarchy from criticism. The party’s dominance in Bangkok also signaled urban voters’ dissatisfaction with Pheu Thai and the ruling Palang Pracharath.

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Yet with neither of the top two parties securing an outright victory, the coming days and weeks will likely be filled with high-stakes jockeying over who should lead the next government.

“The first option for Pheu Thai is to form a coalition with Move Forward and put pressure on the Senate to approve a prime minister,” said Napon Jatusripitak, a research fellow at Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. “The second option that Pheu Thai has is to look elsewhere.”

There may also still be a role for the centrist Bhumjaithai party — which emerged as a king-maker in the 2019 election on a vow to decriminalize marijuana, and was in third place with about 70 seats, according to the uncertified results.

Under a constitution promulgated in 2017, the 250 military-appointed senators get to vote alongside the 500 elected lower house members to decide on the next prime minister.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter and Pheu Thai’s front-runner for prime minister expressed “very high confidence in our victory.” Srettha Thavisin, another party candidate for premier, said Pheu Thai “will prioritize talks with pro-democratic parties.”

Political parties affiliated with Thaksin, 73, have won the most seats in every national vote dating back to 2001, only to be unseated from power by dissolutions or coups.

Whether Thaksin’s planned return to Thailand in July will exacerbate tensions with the military elite is another question. The telecoms magnate has been living in self-imposed exile after fleeing to avoid prison over a corruption conviction that followed a coup that toppled his own government in 2006.

Reflecting the economic concerns of Thai farmers and consumers, most of the major parties promised a similar package of cash handouts, higher minimum wages and a suspension of debt repayments if they took power.

Move Forward differed in publicly challenging the conservative political establishment centered around the monarchy. It was the only major party calling for changes to Article 112 to allow greater freedom to discuss the royal family.

Those tensions have been brewing since 2016, when King Maha Vajiralongkorn took the throne following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years before passing away at the age of 88.

“This is a political earthquake,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “People don’t want to have populism in Thailand, we now know.”

Addressing concerns last week about the potential for another coup, Thailand’s army chief said there was “zero chance” of the Southeast Asian nation returning to military rule in the event of post-election turmoil.

Read More: How Military Has a Thumb on Scales in Thai Election: QuickTake

Regardless of who becomes premier, Thailand’s next leader will be tasked with bolstering growth in a $506 billion economy that has lagged its regional peers and whose citizens have struggled to keep up with inflation and high household debt.

Further clouding the outlook, the arrival of the El Nino weather pattern could cut into the country’s rice crop, a critical export for the Southeast Asian nation. It also remains to be seen if the election can revive Asia’s worst-performing stock market this year after foreign investors withdrew about $2 billion.

Before voting ended, the Election Commission secretary-general told reporters that balloting proceeded smoothly, signaling no significant irregularities. Approximately 52 million Thais were eligible to vote, and more than 90% of about 2.3 million people who registered for early polling did so last week.

--With assistance from Anuchit Nguyen, Pathom Sangwongwanich, Janine Phakdeetham, Cecilia Yap and Randy Thanthong-Knight.

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