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BANGKOK : Bangkok residents on Sunday voted in the Democrat Party candidate as the Thai capital's new governor, an exit poll showed, in a sign of support for the recently-elected ruling party.
The poll by Suan Dusit university found that Sukhumbhand Paribatra won nearly 47 per cent of the vote, compared to about 27 per cent for the runner-up, opposition Puea Thai party candidate Yuranant Pamornmontri.
The gubernatorial vote comes the same day as by-elections across Thailand for 29 parliamentary seats, the first test at the polls for new premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is hoping to shore up the Democrat Party's shaky coalition.
Sukhumbhand, a former deputy foreign minister and academic, declined to formally declare his victory until the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority releases official results early Monday, but thanked his supporters.
"No matter what my final count is, I will be governor to all groups and religions and I thank all who voted for me," he said on local television.
Polls closed at 3:00 pm (0800 GMT), and Suan Dusit surveyed 15,780 eligible voters across the capital.
Incumbent governor Apirak Kosayodhin - Democrat Party deputy leader - was elected for a second term last October, but was forced to resign just a month later after being accused of corruption.
He is currently being investigated for his role in a 191-million-dollar deal to buy fire engines and boats.
Voting in the by-elections also closed at 3:00 pm, and results are expected later Sunday or early Monday.
The Democrats lost elections in December 2007 to a party linked to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and came to power in a close parliamentary vote last month after a court dissolved the ruling People Power Party (PPP).
The December 2 ruling by the Constitutional Court also banned scores of lawmakers from politics for five years because of vote fraud charges linked to the 2007 polls, triggering Sunday's by-elections.
Bangkok is traditionally a Democrat Party stronghold while the Thaksin-linked Puea Thai party - made up of the remnants of the now-defunct PPP - counts on the poorer north and northeast for support. - AFP/ms
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