BANGKOK: Thailand’s oldest political party has reinstated former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as its chief, marking a comeback for the conservative determine who led the nation by a violent 2010 crackdown on “Crimson Shirt” protesters.
Abhisit, who served as premier from 2008 to 2011, gained 96 % of occasion members’ votes in Saturday’s poll, broadcast stay on native media. “My coronary heart by no means left right here,” the 61-year-old advised supporters after the consequence was introduced.
COMEBACK AFTER YEARS IN POLITICAL WILDERNESS
Abhisit resigned as Democrat Occasion chief in 2023 after years of inside rifts and declining reputation following the 2010 clashes that killed greater than 90 individuals and wounded over 2,000.
His return might reinvigorate the occasion’s standing forward of elections anticipated inside 4 months, after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul pledged to dissolve parliament.
“Folks have already got long-standing connections with him and the Democrat Occasion, but it surely gained’t be simple,” stated Ekkarin Tuansiri, a political scientist at Prince of Songkla College.
