Thailand PM Anutin consolidates power with dominating election win

The Bhumjaithai Party led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has emerge as the largest party in Thailand’s general election. The conservative Bhumjaithai Party’s decisive election victory showed that voters chose stability over change.“This will be the first time in the 21st century that a conservative party has won the most seats in a general election, and it is a seismic shift in Thai politics,” said Ken Lohatepanont, a University of Michigan doctoral candidate, remarked in his online newsletter about Thai politics.
Electoral politics since 2001 had been dominated by populist parties loyal to billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, 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. Bhumjaithai won 193 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, positioning it to form the next government and return incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to office. However, it will still need to recruit coalition partners to attain the 251 House votes required to elect the prime minister. The progressive People’s Party placed second with 118 seats, while Pheu Thai trailed with 74. A referendum held alongside the vote showed strong support for beginning a new constitution-drafting process. Voter turnout was about 65% amid slow economic growth and rising nationalism.
Bhumjaithai’s surge in popularity followed its self-presentation as a “defender of the nation” during the Thailand--Cambodia border conflict, which strengthened nationalist sentiment among voters. Thailand twice last year fought with Cambodia over competing territorial claims along their border.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday ruled that 44 former lawmakers from Move Forward committed a serious ethical violation by attempting to propose an amendment to a law that criminalizes defamation of the monarchy. The 44 include People’s Party executives and its leader, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut. The ruling will be forwarded to the Supreme Court, which could bar them from political activity and holding public office.