On Thursday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was re-elected through a parliamentary vote winning a fresh mandate that could mark a rare period of stability for a country with a long history of political drama and turmoil.
In a stunning turnaround in fortunes for a party that had struggled to make its mark in Thai politics, Bhumjaithai scored a decisive election victory over its reformist rival after capitalising on a wave of nationalism arising out of military conflicts with Cambodia last year.
Opportunity Seized
Much of Anutin’s success comes from his opportunism last year in seizing on the decline of the once dominant Pheu Thai party, first by abandoning its coalition government then manoeuvring swiftly to form his own after a court sacked a second prime minister in the space of just over a year.
Bhumjaithai’s coalition pact with the politically bruised Pheu Thai and a motley crew of small parties stood firm in Thursday’s vote, with Anutin comfortably reaching the 251 votes needed to win reelection.
His alliance is expected to control 292 of the current 499 seats in parliament.
In the leadup to the vote, Anutin, 59, pledged to get to work immediately on forming a cabinet and solving Thailand’s problems.
“Your voices are equally heard,” he told rival lawmakers. “I’m ready to accept suggestions so I can carry out my duty as head of government. We all have the same goals – the wellbeing of the people.”
Anutin, a staunch royalist, has been a mainstay in Thai politics, weathering two decades of upheaval by positioning Bhumjaithai strategically between warring elites entangled in an intractable power struggle, which guaranteed its place in a succession of coalition governments.
Anutin’s election victory and approval by parliament gives him his first clear mandate to lead in a country with a long-stuttering economy shackled by massive household debt and facing headwinds from trade uncertainty and the fallout of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Prospect Of Stability
Anutin’s survival instincts and ability to straddle political divides could prove his biggest asset, some analysts say, with Bhumjaithai having been spared the wrath of Thailand’s powerful military and judiciary, the engineers of the downfall of multiple governments and parties.
Napon Jatusripitak, a political scientist at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, said that with Bhumjaithai set to hold sway over the upper and lower houses and Thailand’s axes of institutional power appearing to be behind Anutin, the prospects for medium-term stability were good.
(With inputs from Reuters)
