Chalermchai defies poll, says Democrat Party will not lose support
Party leader insists Democrat will retain its supporters despite recent polls showing voters unhappy with its move to join Pheu Thai-led coalition
Democrat supporters will not abandon the party in the next election just because it has joined the coalition led by its arch rival, the party leader declared in response to a recent opinion poll.
“Normally, I respect the results of opinion surveys, but this time, I’ll prove it wrong,” Chalermchai Sri-on said on Tuesday.
Though he did not mention the name of the pollster, it is assumed that he was referring to Nida Poll run by the National Institute of Development Administration.
On Sunday, Nida Poll announced the results of an opinion survey covering 1,310 voters in 14 provinces in the South, and 68% of the respondents said they were unhappy with the Democrat Party’s decision to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition.
Up to 41.37% of the respondents said they would not vote for the Democrats again, 17.48% said they would, while 41.15% said they were undecided.
Chalermchai, who is considered a newcomer by Democrat veterans like Chuan Leekpai, Banyat Bantadtan and Abhisit Vejjajiva, was elected as party leader in December last year.
After the election, Abhisit resigned from the party as he expected Chalermchai to lead the Democrats to join Pheu Thai despite their decades-old animosity.
Chalermchai spoke to reporters after he, Democrat secretary-general Dechit Khaothong and party MPs and executives paid respects to the Mother Earth statue at the Democrat head office at 7.30am.
He said he had come to pay respect to the party’s symbol before he started working as the natural resources and environment minister later in the day.
