11 July 2023 at 18:26
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha is leaving politics, he announced on the eve of a crucial vote in parliament. Because the army has a big say in this, it is questionable whether the reform-oriented election winner will succeed him.
Prayut came to power in a military coup in 2014. But the party of the former army chief suffered a heavy defeat in the elections in May this year: UTN won only 36 of the 500 seats in parliament.
The reformist opposition leader Pita Limjaroenrat was the big winner. However, this does not immediately mean that he will be the new Prime Minister of Thailand. Parliament will decide on this on Thursday.
In addition to the 500 elected parliamentarians, 250 senators are also allowed to vote. They are all appointed by the mighty army. The opposition leader seems to be able to count on the support of 312 parliamentarians, but needs 376 votes to get a majority. Parliament can continue to vote until there is sufficient support for a candidate.
Pita has called on parliamentarians to make him prime minister and “return to normalcy” after nearly a decade of rule by the establishment, which favors the military. “We’ve come too far to lose now,” the opposition leader told supporters in Bangkok over the weekend. “We’re going to reach the finish line together.”
Analysts thought that Prayut could continue as leader of a minority government after his election defeat, but he does not like that. It stops as soon as a successor is chosen. He announced his departure from politics via a statement on the Facebook page of his party UTN.
2023-07-11 16:26:26
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