Prachachat Party leader Wan Muhammad Nor Matha claims the party has received overwhelming support from residents in the deep South, boosting its confidence of winning the most seats in the region at next year's election.
Mr Wan Nor told the Bangkok Post the party's popularity in the three southernmost provinces -- Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala -- is increasing and by the time the polls take place, he is confident his party is likely to grab at least 6 or 7 seats out of the 11 constituencies up for grabs, where nearly 90% of the population are Muslim of Malay ethnicity.
"We know that some constituencies in the three southernmost provinces have been Democrat Party strongholds for a long time, but according to a recent survey by our party, our popularity in some of these constituencies has increased, reaching 65% in some cases," Mr Wan Nor said.
A former transport minister under the Thaksin Shinawatra government, Mr Wan Nor said he understood what people in those border provinces want and he has created policies such as "building a multicultural society" to match their needs.
Prachachat Party, a new party formed by Muslim politicians of the Wadah group in the deep South, began as a faction of the New Aspiration Party (NAP) co-founded by Mr Wan Nor and veteran Pattani politician Den Tomeena.
The NAP then merged with Thaksin Shinawatra's now-dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party, which became the Pheu Thai Party, but Wadah's members defected from Pheu Thai in April.
"Prachachat Party will promote a multicultural society for the nation and pay attention to the minority voice. Under this policy people with different backgrounds can live together peacefully and equally.
"The party also wants to bring unity, reconciliation and peace to the strife-torn deep South. It is our main goal," he said.
He also said his party would take a neutral stance regarding the conflict in the deep South, which has left thousands of people dead over the past years.
"Nobody knows the problem better than us," he said, adding the Wadah group had previously implemented many policies to tackle violence-related problems in the region. "Violence in the deep South is not a problem for just one particular area," he said. "To solve this, we have to get rid of the distrust among people."
However, Mr Wan Nor said his party will not only pay attention to the minority voices in the deep South but will also look after minority voices across the country such as hilltribe people and marginalised groups. "These people need a party to make their voices heard and we hope we are their answer," he said.
Pol Gen Tawee Sodsong, secretary-general of the Prachachat Party, said he was confident the new electoral system, in which "every vote counts", should help his party gain between 15 to 25 MP seats.
"We are pretty sure that, in worst case scenario, we will win six or seven seats out of 11 constituencies in the three southernmost provinces. We are also confident of winning seats from constituencies in other border provinces and under the party list system," he said.
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