Thai parliament elects Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister
June 5, 2019
The vote keeps Prayuth Chan-ocha in power, five years after he ousted an elected government in a military coup. The opposition complained of voting irregularities in the March 24 elections.
Image: picture alliance / Pacific Press
Advertisement
Both houses of Thailand's parliament on Wednesday elected Prayuth Chan-ocha as the country's next prime minister.
Prayuth comfortably reached the 375-vote threshold, more than half of the 750-member parliament, needed to win the premiership. Thailand's prime minister is chosen in a joint vote of the 500-seat House and the 250-seat Senate, whose members were appointed by the junta.
The vote officially restored civilian rule in Thailand after more than five years under the junta leader. The 65-year-old retired general, who was nominated by a military-backed coalition led by the Palang Pracharath party, had been expected to keep his post under a new political system introduced by the junta, which critics say is meant to prolong the military dominance in Thai politics.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of Thailand's progressive Future Forward Party, was Prayuth's sole opponent and represented an alliance of anti-military parties.
The parliamentary vote for prime minister came 10 weeks after a general election, which opposition parties say was heavily rigged in favor of the pro-army parties.
Support for Prayuth
The Palang Pracharath party won the second-highest number of seats in the House of Representatives in the March 24 general election. But a number of smaller parties and lawmakers pledged support to Prayuth for premiership.
"He (Prayuth) is patient and has sacrificed himself so much for the country," Koranis Ngamsukonrattana, a Palang Pracharath member of parliament, said during the Wednesday debate. "He's the savior who came when all hope was lost."
Thailand’s young people
03:08
This browser does not support the video element.
On Tuesday, the Democratic Party — Thailand's oldest party — agreed to join the Palang Pracharath-led coalition. In protest at the decision, former Democratic Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva resigned from parliament.
"We have seen abuse of state power… The (junta's) extension of power is not just rhetoric, it is reality," Abhisit said on Wednesday.
Yingluck sentencing: The downfall of Thailand's Shinawatra family
Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has been sentenced to five years in jail. DW looks back at the scandal that toppled Thailand's most influential political family and raised questions about the future of Thai democracy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Sangnak
A Thai political dynasty with rural support
Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra is a wealthy businessman and former PM of Thailand. As founder of the Pheu Thai party, he was popular among rural poor, but unpopular among rich elite. In 2006, Thaskin was accused of fraud and ousted in a military coup. He fled Thailand in 2008 and faces two years in jail if he returns. Shinawatra-affiliated parties have won every Thai election since 2001.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
Yingluck's rise into politics
As successor to her brother, Yingluck Shinawatra was elected as PM of Thailand in 2011. She enjoyed the popularity of Taskin's base but was also targeted by his opponents, who accused her of being a political proxy for her exiled brother. Before she was elected as Thailand's first female PM, she had never held a political position or government post.
Image: dapd
The rice scandal
Yingluck's flagship policy, which helped her win the 2011 election, was a rice subsidy program aimed at her base where the government paid poor farmers 50 percent more for rice with the intention of providing a minimum wage. The plan backfired with regional competitors undercutting Thai rice exports, resulting in huge stockpiles and alleged losses to the state of $17 billion (14.25 billion euros).
Image: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Yingluck thrown out of office
In May 2014, Yingluck was ousted from office by the Thai constitutional court after it ruled she had abused power in transferring a senior aide to another position. This was combined with months of public protest against a proposed amnesty bill for those involved in violent protests after her brother was forced from power. The Thai military took power and they continue to rule the country.
Image: Reuters
Yingluck's supporters wear red
The "red shirt" protesters, who are loyal to the Shinawatra family, oppose Thailand's elite, royalist class backed by the military. Yingluck's supporters see the moves against her as an attempt to finally oust the family from power and eliminate its political influence in Thailand.
Image: AP
The royal loyalists in yellow
Loyalists to the Thai royal family, ruling elite and military are known as "yellow shirts." They say that the Shinawatras abuse their power for their own gain and accuse them of creating populist policies to attract the poor electoral majority in Thai society. They consider this a threat to the traditional ruling class. Multiple clashes between reds and yellows have resulted in dozens of deaths.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Sangnak
Yingluck follows her brother into exile
In 2015, Yingluck was charged with criminal negligence and dereliction for her role in the failed rice subsidy scheme. She was also impeached for the same charges, and not allowed to participate in Thai politics for five years. She fled Thailand in August 2017, before a ruling on her case was to be announced. In September 2017, she was sentenced, in absentia, to five years in jail.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Suwanrumpha
Thailand's uncertain future
Thai politics has been dominated for over a decade by a power struggle between the traditional elite and the Shinawatra family. Political scientist Wolfram Schaffar told DW that the goal of pursuing the Shinawatras has been to "weaken elements of direct democracy." Other experts say that Yingluck's exile leaves Thailand without an opposition figure and allows the military to rule indefinitely.
