Thai Parliament to vote on new PM as influential Thaksin jets off amid chaos
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On Sept 9, the Supreme Court will rule on a case involving billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra that could potentially see him serve prison time.
PHOTO: AFP
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BANGKOK – Thailand’s Parliament was set to choose a new prime minister on Sept 5 after days of political chaos, in a vote that could be overshadowed by the dramatic departure of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the country’s most powerful politician.
Polarising billionaire Thaksin, the central figure in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power in Thailand, left on his private jet for Dubai late on Sept 4, with his family’s ruling party Pheu Thai in disarray
Thaksin’s flight out of Thailand came only days ahead of a court ruling next week that could see him jailed.
The departure of Thaksin, the driving force behind Pheu Thai, came six days after a court sacked his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister
Pheu Thai, the populist political juggernaut that won five of the past six elections, has fought desperately to thwart the challenge of former alliance partner Bhumjaithai, which has won the backing of the biggest force in Parliament with a pledge to call a new election within four months.
The turmoil has put Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul in pole position ahead of the Sept 5 vote, where he needs the support of more than half of the Lower House to become prime minister.
His coalition has 146 lawmakers and with the People’s Party opting to stay in the opposition but guaranteeing him its 143 votes, Mr Anutin could comfortably pass the required threshold of 247 votes.
After a failed bid to dissolve the House to stymie Mr Anutin, Pheu Thai made another last-ditch attempt to undermine his alliance on Sept 4, announcing it would nominate 77-year-old former attorney-general Chaikasem Nitisiri to contest the prime ministerial vote, with a promise to call a snap election immediately if elected.
But with the sudden departure of 76-year-old power broker Thaksin amid a crisis in his once-dominant party, the chances of political unknown Chaikasem succeeding look increasingly slim.
In an overnight post on X, Thaksin said he had arrived for a medical check-up in Dubai, where he spent most of his 15 years in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for abuse of power and conflicts of interest while he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
He said he would return by Sept 8.
He flew out of Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 7.17pm local time on a private jet, after the authorities confirmed there was no court order prohibiting him from leaving the country, the police said in a statement.
His aircraft, which the police said was numbered T7GTS, was tracked initially flying towards Singapore but then travelled over Malaysia and made a number of loops on the Andaman Sea before heading further west, according to online flight trackers.
Turbulent past
Ms Paetongtarn was the sixth premier from or backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family to be removed by the military or judiciary in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power between the country’s warring elites.
Thaksin spent years living in London and Dubai to avoid jail for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, before returning to Thailand to serve his sentence, just hours before a Pheu Thai prime minister took office.
His term was commuted from eight years to one year after a royal pardon, and he spent six months in a VIP wing of a hospital, before being released on parole in February 2024
The Supreme Court verdict on Sept 9
Pheu Thai has been struggling to garner support since suffering the loss of Ms Paetongtarn, triggering a scramble for power to unseat the party that has dominated Thai politics for a quarter of a century, winning five of the past six elections.
Professor Wanwichit Boonprong, a political science lecturer at Rangsit University, said Mr Anutin had outmanoeuvred Thaksin’s Pheu Thai by making a pact with the opposition.
“I’m quite confident that Anutin will be elected as the next prime minister,” he said.
“Pheu Thai’s tactics are like the final show,” he added.
“Pheu Thai has completely closed the curtain.” REUTERS
