Bangkok governor gets second term

Democrat Party candidate and incumbent Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra (centre) waves to his supporters before a news conference at the party headquarters in Bangkok yesterday.

AFP/Bangkok

Bangkok’s governor swept back into the city hall yesterday after winning a hotly-contested poll which spotlighted Thailand’s lingering political divisions.

Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the royalist pro-establishment Democrat party overcame a rival from the ruling Puea Thai party, which is backed by “Red Shirt” supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  Unofficial results on the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority website showed Sukhumbhand took more than 1.25mn of the 2.7mn votes polled, a quarter of a million more than leading rival Pongsapat Pongcharoen.

His victory extends the Democrats’ near-decade-long hold on Bangkok and stops Puea Thai gaining a foothold in the capital and extending its support base, now mainly concentrated among the rural poor. “I would like to thank you voters who trust me and the Democrat party,” said a victorious Sukhumbhand, promising to work harder and be more dedicated.

Media-friendly former top policeman Pongsapat had looked set for a slender victory, but conceded early yesterday evening as it became clear he would fall well short.

He expressed willingness to work with his rival “no matter in what position” in comments echoed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra—Thaksin’s sister—who pledged “to work “seamlessly” with Bangkok’s governor.

With its legions of middle-class voters, Bangkok has long been a stronghold of the pro-establishment Democrats.

National politics over recent years has been dominated by the power struggle between the Democrats and Puea Thai, the party of self-exiled tycoon Thaksin.