Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Thailand faced a realignment of conservative politics on January 9 after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s party clinched a stronger-than-expected general election victory. The left-leaning People’s Party, which led most opinion polls in the runup to the vote, trailed in several constituencies, marking a setback for a party whose forerunner, Move Forward, won the 2023 election before it was blocked from forming a government.
In a further blow to the People’s Party on January 9, the National AntiCorruption Commission announced its investigation had found 44 former Move Forward members had breached ethical standards by seeking to amend a royal defamation law in Parliament in 2021.
Anutin said the election outcome was “a victory for all Thais”. He called the election in December after less than 100 days in office, seeking to ride a wave of nationalism generated by Thailand’s three-week conflict with Cambodia in December, a gamble that paid off, enabling him to consolidate the conservative vote.
Underscoring the role nationalism played in the vote, Anutin vowed to build a wall along Thailand’s border with Cambodia and strengthen the military. The new government will proceed with existing stimulus plans, including the second phase of a subsidy scheme to cut living costs, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said. The result drove stocks up 4% in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, to their highest level in over a year.
Voters backed a proposal to change the constitution, with nearly two-thirds in favour of replacing a charter adopted after a 2014 military coup that critics say gave too much power to an undemocratic Senate.