Thailand’s conservative prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul declared victory in the general election on Sunday after TV projections indicated that his party had secured a commanding lead, winning the largest number of seats in parliament.“We are likely to take first place in the election,” AFP quoted Anutin Charnvirakul saying. “The victory today belongs to all Thais, no matter whether you voted for us or not.”The election, which involved around 53 million registered voters, was held amid sluggish economic growth and rising nationalist sentiment. Channel 3 projected that Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party was on course to secure nearly 200 seats, based on party tallies. The progressive People’s Party was a distant second with just under 100 seats, but still ahead of Pheu Thai, the party linked to jailed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which placed third. The result would mark a dramatic reversal for Anutin, whose party finished third in the previous election and who was elevated to the prime minister’s post by parliament only in September, after two Pheu Thai-led governments were removed by court rulings. Accepting defeat, People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut told reporters in Bangkok that “we stand by our principle of respecting the party that finishes first and its right to form the government”.