Who has been elected as the new 30th Prime Minister of Thailand?

Correct Answer :   Shretha Thavisin

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Thailand’s parliament on Tuesday (22nd August 2023) voted for real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin to be the country’s next prime minister, bringing an end to three months of political deadlock.

Srettha, 60, was the sole candidate put forward by the populist Pheu Thai Party and received 482 votes out of a possible 747 in Thailand’s bicameral parliament.

His election comes the same day that Pheu Thai founder and divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the country after more than 15 years in self-imposed exile.

Thavisin - who still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajirilongkorn before he can officially take office - later vowed to work on improving the lives of Thais across the country.

“I feel greatly honored to be elected as the 30th prime minister of Thailand. I would like to thank every Thai, coalition parties, honorable members of the House of Representatives, every senator who joined the vote today. I will try my best in doing my duties tirelessly to elevate Thais’ lives,” Thavisin said.

A political newbie with a track record in business, Srettha joined Pheu Thai in 2022 before being named one of the party’s three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the election in May.

That poll was won by a popular progressive party, Move Forward, which had proposed radical reforms to capitalize on years of rising anger with how Thailand is governed. However, its efforts to form a government were later stymied by the kingdom’s political elites.

Pheu Thai came second but led efforts to form a new alliance after parliament blocked Move Forward’s leader from becoming prime minister over the party’s pledge to amend Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws, known as Article 112.

In a bid to secure the needed votes, Pheu Thai struck a deal with its former military rivals and in doing so reneged on a promise that it would not work with pro-military parties.

Pheu Thai also campaigned on keeping the military out of politics, but under the new alliance the military-backed Palang Pracharath and United Thai Nation Party will be awarded ministerial roles.

Both those parties are affiliated with coup leader and outgoing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha, and linked to the military junta that toppled Pheu Thai’s democratically elected government, led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, nearly a decade ago..

Source : CNN