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Singapore: Months of political uncertainty in Thailand sparked by the suspension and eventual ouster of the prime minister have come to a temporary pause after politicians on Friday voted in a new leader, the third to hold the office in a little more than a year.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the 58-year-old leader of the Bhumjaithai party, cobbled together an alliance of progressives and conservatives to beat out Chaikasem Nitisiri of the ruling Pheu Thai party. Pheu Thai is the political vehicle of Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was dismissed by court order last week, and her influential father and another former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Anutin Charnvirakul is set to become Thailand’s new prime minister after a vote in parliament on Friday. Credit: AP
Anutin won 311 of a possible 492 votes, according to an unofficial tally broadcast on television. The veteran politician and his government are expected to take office in a few days after obtaining a formal appointment from King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Distracting from Anutin’s triumph, Thaksin earlier flew to Dubai, the country where he spent years in exile after being deposed by a military coup in 2006, for what he said was medical treatment.
The move has sparked intrigue in Thailand because the billionaire is just days away from a court ruling in a case relating to events surrounding his return from exile. If found guilty, he could be jailed.
Promising to return to Bangkok in time to attend the court in person, Thaksin said he had intended to go to Singapore but was forced to re-route his private jet to Dubai because he was stalled too long at immigration to make it to Singapore’s Seletar Airport before it closed at 10pm.
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Before Thaksin’s abrupt departure, Anutin secured the support of the progressive People’s Party for him to become prime minister, though the party said it would remain in opposition. One of the conditions for its support was the dissolution of the House of Representatives within four months for a new general election, meaning any calm in Thai politics may be brief.
The People’s Party is the successor to the Move Forward party, which won the most votes at the 2023 election, only for the unelected and military-backed Senate to block its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, from becoming the prime minister. The Senate no longer holds such powers.
Last year, the Constitutional Court banned Pita from politics for 10 years and dissolved Moved Forward because of its campaign pledge to water down harsh lese-majesty laws that criminalise insulting the monarchy.
Professor Pavin Chachavalpongpun from the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University said Anutin as prime minister could serve as a proxy for the elite royalist-military establishment that holds enormous behind-the-scenes power in Thai politics.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra waves as she leaves Government House in Bangkok after being dismissed as prime minister last Friday.Credit: AP
He said it was wise to be sceptical about Anutin’s pledge for the prompt dissolution of parliament.
“If you asked the People’s Party, they will say they believe it,” he said. “But I mean, for Anutin and for the elite to have invested so much into pushing him to this position, I don’t think they want to invest for four months.”
Anutin is best known for successfully lobbying for the decriminalisation of cannabis, a policy that is now being more strictly regulated for medical purposes. He also played a high-profile role as health minister during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he was accused of tardiness in obtaining adequate vaccine supplies to fight the virus.
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The latest round of political turmoil in Thailand began more than two months ago when the Constitutional Court suspended Paetongtarn, the daughter of Thaksin, after a June phone conversation between her and Cambodia’s de facto leader Hun Sen was leaked.
The two nations were on the brink of armed conflict, and her supposedly obsequious language and tone upset many Thais, presenting her political enemies with an opportunity to remove her.
Anutin promptly withdrew his party from her coalition, leaving Pheu Thai with a razor-thin margin.
The court formally sacked Paetongtarn on August 29 for ethical breaches related to the phone call. She was in the job for about a year, having taken over from Srettha Thavisin when he was dismissed by the same court, which ruled he had engaged in unethical behaviour.
with AP
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