After clashes, political deadlock: New Thai PM elected
Shafaq News – Bangkok
Thailand's Parliament elected Bhumjaithai (Proud to be Thai) Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul as Prime Minister on Friday, securing 311 votes and far exceeding the 247 required for a majority in the 492-member House.
Anutin's victory was secured through an alliance with the liberal People's Party, Thailand's largest parliamentary faction with 143 seats, which backed him in exchange for his promise to call elections within four months.
The new PM replaces Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was officially removed from office by Thailand's Constitutional Court in August following an ethics scandal that originated from the country's border tensions with Cambodia.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court had suspended her in July after 36 senators filed a petition alleging she violated ministerial ethics through a leaked June phone conversation with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, in which critics said she appeared "deferent" to the Cambodian leader.
The leaked call prompted Anutin's Bhumjaithai Party to withdraw from the governing coalition with Paetongtarn's Pheu Thai (For the Thai) Party, collapsing her parliamentary majority and creating the political crisis.
The scandal originated in May when a border clash at Chong Bok resulted in a Cambodian soldier's death, escalating diplomatic tensions that led to the controversial phone conversation.
Paetongtarn, from the influential Shinawatra dynasty, had been Thailand's youngest PM and second woman to hold the office. Her dismissal marks the fifth time the court has ousted a Shinawatra-linked leader, a family that has dominated Thai politics for two decades.
