Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul moved closer to forming a new government after the election commission certified results of the Feb. 8 vote, confirming his ruling party's decisive win. The Bhumjaithai Party secured 191 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, emerging as the single-largest party for the first time in decades.

Anutin's conservative party defeated the pro-democracy People's Party, which won 120 seats, and the Pheu Thai Party, which came third with 74 seats. The official results announced Wednesday reflected nearly the full makeup of the lower house after a preliminary tally captured only 94% of polling stations. One constituency seat remains to be certified.

The certification sets off a 15-day countdown for the first meeting of the newly elected lower house to pick a House Speaker, who will then call another meeting to formally select a new prime minister, likely by the end of March. Anutin is expected to receive support from about 290 lawmakers after recruiting 13 other small parties to join his coalition.