Democrat Party leader Jurin Laksanawisit on Monday played down results of an opinion poll showing he was not among the top 10 favourite candidates to be the next prime minister among city voters.
According to Nida Poll, the Democrat leader ranked 11th on the list, receiving 1.56% of support from 2,500 eligible voters in Bangkok’s 50 districts polled from March 15-21.
Mr Jurin said the party did not win a single seat in Bangkok in the 2019 elections, but the party’s popularity had improved. He expressed confidence the Democrat candidates would win in several constituencies in the capital.
The Democrat leader also said the party’s candidate selection process was not disrupted by a dispute over the Election Commission’s redrawn electoral map for Bangkok.
A petition was lodged with the Administrative Court to challenge the EC’s redrawn constituency map for Bangkok. The court reportedly accepted the petition for a ruling.
According to Mr Jurin, the party’s executive board would meet on Wednesday to review and endorse party-list and constituency candidates, he said, adding the party candidates were ready for the polls no matter what.
Democrat Party deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon, who is in charge of elections in Bangkok, said on Monday the party was not discouraged by the Nida Poll survey and would use such findings to improve its work.
Citing feedback from election campaigns, he said the party would be able to regain its foothold in Bangkok in the next elections.
According to Nida Poll, the Democrat Party’s popularity in Bangkok ranked fourth after the Pheu Thai Party, the Move Forward Party, and the United Thai Nation Party.