Anutin Charnvirakul sailed through a parliamentary vote to become the first re-elected prime minister in two decades, a fresh mandate that could bring rare stability for the turbulent politics of the country.
The Bhumjaithai Party’s Anutin led from the start in rout of his biggest rival, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the progressive People’s Party and the surprise runner-up last month in an election it had been widely expected to win.
Anutin won the backing of 293 of parliament’s 499 members yesterday, more than twice the 119 votes Natthaphong secured.
He offered no immediate comment on his victory, but headed into a meeting on energy security.
“Thailand has no issues and is able to still buy oil,” Anutin said after the meeting. “We will ensure public confidence.”
Earlier, dressed in Thai traditional attire in his party’s hue of blue, a beaming Anutin had greeted a succession of allies in parliament, shaking hands and posing for photographs.
In a stunning turnaround for a party that had struggled to make its mark in Thai politics, Bhumjaithai decisively won last month’s election, riding on a wave of nationalism unleashed by military clashes with neighbouring Cambodia last year.
Much of Anutin’s success comes from his opportunism in seizing on the decline of the once dominant Pheu Thai party, first by abandoning its coalition government and 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 crew of small parties stood firm in yesterday’s vote, as Anutin comfortably reached the necessary threshold of 51%.
Earlier, Anutin, 59, had pledged to immediately start forming a Cabinet and resolving Thailand’s problems.
“Your voices are equally heard,” he told lawmakers from outside his alliance. “I’m ready to accept suggestions ... We all have the same goals – the well-being of the people.”
Staunch royalist Anutin weathered two decades of upheaval in tumultuous Thai politics by strategically positioning his party between elites warring in an intractable power struggle to ensure its role in successive coalition governments. — Reuters
