 Print Article
|
The Eton- and Oxford-educated Abhisit Vejjajiva, 44, leader of the Democrat Party, secured 235 votes from 436 MPs in a special session of Parliament.
His main rival, Mr Pracha Promnok of the Puea Paendin party, who was sponsored by the Puea Thai party - an incarnation of the former ruling party which was dissolved by the Constitutional Court on Dec 2 - could muster only 198 votes, mainly because of a crossover of around 32 MPs who voted for Mr Abhisit. Three MPs abstained.
The vote took place as 200 Puea Thai supporters in red shirts protested outside Parliament against what they said was the hijacking of democracy by the Democrat Party in collaboration with the army.
Minutes after Mr Abhisit emerged the winner, the protesters smashed steel road barriers into the gates of Parliament House and hurled debris at police stationed just inside the ornate fence.
Later, they tried to prevent MPs from leaving the Parliament, and then attacked the vehicles of several Democrat MPs, in some cases smashing windows with chunks of concrete as the cars sped away. Four MPs were reportedly hurt.
Several protesters were middle aged, working-class women who wept hysterically and screamed obscenities against Mr Abhisit and army chief General Anupong Paochinda - widely seen as having helped engineer the new ruling coalition.
Later, the 'red shirts' moved to the nearby Sanam Luang grounds to stage a bigger protest. Hundreds more were streaming in to join them last night.
After the Parliament session adjourned Mr Abhisit formally thanked MPs who had voted for him, but declined to make any further comment pending the mandatory - and usually routine - endorsement of his election by the King which officials said could come as early as today.
The party's secretary-general Suthep Thuagsuban, a key deal-maker, said the Cabinet line-up should be completed by Friday and a policy statement by Dec 26.
The royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which helped pave the way for yesterday's denouement, said it would observe the functioning of the new coalition and warned that it would take to the streets again in the event of there being anything 'suspicious'.
The PAD had provoked months of political turmoil that climaxed late last month with the previous coalition government paralysed, unable to remove PAD supporters who had occupied the country's two airports.
The new coalition's legitimacy is likely to be challenged soon, with the pro-democracy 'red shirts', many loyal to former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, believing their electoral right has been stolen.
In an e-mail, Chulalongkorn University's professor of political science Giles Ji Ungpakorn said Mr Abhisit's appointment was 'the final stage of the second coup against an elected government'.
'After the deliberate chaos created by the PAD's seizure of the airports, the courts stepped in to dissolve the hugely popular governing party for the second time.
'The Army chief then called a meeting of Democrat Party parliamentarians along with some of the most corrupt elements of the governing coalition parties. It is widely believed that the Army chief and others threatened and bribed MPs to change sides.'
More reports: World Page A8
