He is Thailand’s thirtieth prime minister. Srettha Thavisin, of the Pheu Thai party, obtained enough votes in Parliament on Tuesday August 22 to be able to form a government, while the country has been marked by political instability since the dissolution of the National Assembly last March.
Mr Srettha will lead an 11-party coalition, including two pro-military parties affiliated with incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha. Move Forward, the reformist party that won the general elections on May 14, was expelled from the coalition. Critics accused the new government of betraying the election results, but Pheu Thai leaders defended it, seeing it as a necessity to break the political deadlock and bring about reconciliation.
Pheu Thai said he would control eight ministerial posts and nine cabinet deputy posts. The military-backed parties – Palang Pracharat and United Thai Nation – will each receive two ministerial posts and two deputy posts. Pheu Thai did not specify which ministries each party will control.
A former prime minister back from exile
A few hours before the appointment of Srettha Thavisin, the former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, his mentor, returned to Thailand after fifteen years of exile. He was then escorted by the police to the Supreme Court, before being taken to prison, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The 74-year-old billionaire, in power between 2001 and 2006, was overthrown in a military coup and then found guilty of abuse of power and corruption – charges he rejects. He was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison.
“Thaksin’s plans to return to Thailand were postponed after the election results were announced — this implies a strong link between election, coalition building and prime minister selection, on the one hand, and the Thaksin’s personal agenda, on the other hand”told the Associated Press Napon Jatusripitak, political science researcher at the Iseas-Yusof-Ishak Institute in Singapore. Prior to his return, Thaksin said his decision to return had nothing to do with the Pheu Thai party’s candidacy.