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.
If Anutin prevails, he would for the first time have a clear mandate to lead in a country with a long-stuttering economy shackled by massive household debt, in urgent need of structural reform and facing headwinds from trade uncertainty and the fallout of the US-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.
“People have strong reasons to believe that this government can last, particularly because it’s the first time in a long while that the referee and the players are on the same side,” Napon said.
“There’s control,” he said. “And we have a highly fragmented opposition.”
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