After Sunday’s remarkable “orange wave” victory for Thailand’s progressive Move Forward party, the big question is whether the Kingdom’s conservative forces will allow Move Forward to form government. Or does the party’s radical agenda – including reform of the lèse-majesté law – make this a non-starter?

While uncertainty abounds, the most likely scenario is that Move Forward is permitted to form a coalition government with Pheu Thai and other parties, at least for an initial period.

To recap, Move Forward – a fresh-faced progressive party contesting only its second election – won 152 seats at the weekend polls according to informal counting, making it the largest party in parliament. Thaksin Shinawatra’s more established opposition party Pheu Thai won 141 seats, while military-backed parties were trounced, winning less than 80 seats.

Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat announced on Monday that he would convene a coalition comprising 309 MPs from “democratic” parties, including Pheu Thai, while Pheu Thai has indicated that it would not compete with this coalition-building effort.