ISTANBUL

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party won a decisive victory in weekend snap elections, clearing the way for him to remain in office, local media reported Monday.

With around 90% of the ballots counted, unofficial results showed the party securing close to 200 of the 500 seats in the lower house of parliament, making it the single largest party in the chamber, according to the Thailand Enquirer.

The party, however, is still short of the 251 seats required to form a government on its own.

The Bhumjaithai Party is certain to form a coalition with its ally the Kla Tham party, which won 60 seats.

The progressive People’s Party has won 110 seats and is leading in another five constituencies, while the populist Pheu Thai Party backed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has won 80 seats, the results showed.

The Democratic Party has won 20 seats.

Voter turnout was estimated at 60% compared to 75% in the 2023 general election.

The election was called in December after the coalition led by Anutin collapsed after just three months.

“Bhumjaithai’s victory today is a victory for all Thais, whether you voted for the Bhumjaithai Party or not,” Anutin told reporters.

“We have to do the utmost to serve the Thai people to our full ability,” he added.

People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut acknowledged that his party "did not come first.”

“We stand by our principle of respecting the party that finishes first and its right to form the government,” Ruengpanyawut told reporters.

He said his party would not join a Bhumjaithai-led government and would also not form a competing coalition.

If Bhumjaithai can form a government, the People’s Party will sit in opposition, he said.

In the constitutional referendum, voters also delivered a strong mandate to the incoming government to rewrite the 2017 military-drafted constitution, with around 60% or 18.41 million people voting in favor of such a move.