Thaksin’s daughter widens lead for Thai premiership in poll

PAETONGTARN Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and her Pheu Thai party widened leads as the voters’ top choice in the latest opinion poll ahead of a general election tentatively scheduled for May.

Paetongtarn, who represents the South-east Asian nation’s largest opposition party, garnered 38.2 per cent of support in a poll of 2,000. It’s the latest edition of a quarterly survey by the National Institute of Development Administration. Her approval jumped from 34 per cent in the previous poll conducted in December. 

The Pheu Thai party, which seeks to end nearly a decade of military-backed rule, got 49.75 per cent of backing in the survey, an increase from 42.95 per cent in December’s poll. The party has pledged to lift the minimum wage by 70 per cent and boost economic growth to an average of 5 per cent annually if voted into power.

Incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha garnered the backing of 15.7 per cent of respondents, also up from December’s 14 per cent, ranking him third. The coup-leader-turned-premier kicked off his campaign to extend his rule by ordering the dissolution of the nation’s parliament, a prerequisite for the May poll. 

Prayut, 68, submitted a decree to disband the House of Representatives for royal endorsement, he told reporters during a trip to Chiang Mai on Friday (Mar 17). The order, which may be published in the Royal Gazette on Monday, will come just days before the house’s four-year term ends on Mar 23. Prayut is buying more time to campaign and recruit members to run for his new party, which lists him as the sole prime minister candidate.

Pledges from the top nine parties so far will require about 3.14 trillion baht (S$120 billion) per year, after excluding their overlapping policies, according to an analysis by Thailand Development Research Institute. The litany of promises from the two main parties will require two trillion baht each per year to implement, the institute said. BLOOMBERG