Abhisit Vejjajiva has successfully defended his leadership of the Democrat Party in a vote held by its members.
The incumbent won 67,505 votes, followed by former Phitsanulok MP Warong Dechgitvigrom (57,689) and former deputy party leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot (2,285). A total of 127,479 party members voted.
The two challengers congratulated Mr Abhisit after the results were made known on Saturday.
Mr Abhisit has not formally become the new party leader yet since the prerogative lies with the general assembly scheduled on Sunday. He will have to be endorsed by a majority of the assembly, or at least 152 of 303 members including former party leaders, executives and MPs.
The vote, supervised by the party's election committee, was A first for the party. It used an electronic voting method based on Raspberry Pi, a credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. Party members voted using the party's D-Elect mobile app.
The 2017 constitution requires parties to hold primary votes for the first time but the junta issued an order to relax the requirements for the upcoming election, allowing parties to find other ways to let members participate in choosing party leaders.
