Although the Pheu Thai party only came second in the parliamentary elections, they now provide the new head of government: the parliament elected Srettha as prime minister. Party founder Thaksin had just returned from exile.
Three months after the parliamentary elections in Thailand, the real estate entrepreneur Srettha Thavisin has been elected the new prime minister. The 60-year-old from the pro-democracy Pheu Thai party won the majority of votes in both chambers of parliament, the popularly elected House of Representatives and the military-appointed Senate.
Srettha was the only candidate. He will lead an 11-partner coalition that includes two pro-military parties close to outgoing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha. Pita Limjaroenrat’s victorious Move Forward Party (MFP) is not part of the new coalition. Pheu Thai took over the task of forming a government after Pita’s appointment in Parliament was blocked by the military-appointed senators.
Prayut had been in power since 2014, when he overthrew the previous Pheu Thai government in a coup.
Thaksin’s return from exile
Srettha’s election came hours after ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – the founder of Pheu Thai – returned from exile. Thaksin landed at Don Mueang Airport in the capital Bangkok in the morning, Thai media reported. However, his return has nothing to do with the vote in Parliament, he explained. Observers suspected that Thaksin would like to take an active role in politics again.
He was greeted at the airport by waiting supporters and then taken to the Supreme Court by police. The court then confirmed three prison sentences that had been imposed on him during his absence, it said. Accordingly, Thaksin has to go to prison for eight years. He started his sentence straight away.
A police van assigned to transport former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrives at Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison.
But political observers doubt the 74-year-old billionaire will spend much time behind bars. In Thailand, convicts over the age of 70 can apply for parole or a royal pardon.
Thaksin was elected prime minister in 2001, was overthrown in a military coup in 2006 and fled to exile in London. After returning in the meantime, he went into exile again in 2008 and has lived in Dubai, among other places, since then. Thaksin was convicted in absentia on several criminal cases, including corruption. He criticized that as politically motivated.