Who is likely to become the next Prime Minister of Thailand?
2024-08-14
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Beijing News (Reporter Xie Lian) On August 14, local time, the Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled that Prime Minister Setha had violated the constitution and dismissed him immediately. The Constitutional Court ruled that "Pichit was appointed as the Minister of the Prime Minister's Office in the cabinet reshuffle this year, which violated the law. As the Prime Minister, Setha was directly responsible and needed to terminate his duties. He will no longer serve as the Prime Minister of Thailand."
According to CCTV News, on May 16 this year, 40 of the 250 members of the Thai Senate jointly submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court requesting the termination of Prime Minister Setha and then-Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Phichit. On May 21, Phichit resigned as Minister of the Prime Minister's Office.
Phichit, a former lawyer, was briefly jailed in 2008 for contempt of court for allegedly trying to bribe court staff. The Constitutional Court continued to hear the case after Phichit quit the cabinet, ultimately ruling that Setha had violated the constitution by appointing a minister who did not meet ethical standards.
After Setha was dismissed, Thai politics fell into turmoil. Setha took office as prime minister in August 2023 and has served less than a year so far. According to reports, after Setha was dismissed, the Thai cabinet will continue to exercise the duties of a caretaker government, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Puttan Wijayachai will serve as interim prime minister. At the same time, the speaker of the lower house of the Thai parliament will hold a meeting to vote for a new prime minister.
The new prime minister needs the support of at least half of the members of the House of Representatives, which means at least 247 votes. The 11-party alliance formed by the Pheu Thai Party currently has a total of 314 seats.
Some analysts believe that after Seta was forced to step down, Pheu Thai Party's Patthongdam may become the new prime minister of Thailand. Patthongdam is the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and attracted much attention in last year's general election. Currently, Patthongdam is the leader of the Pheu Thai Party.
Data map: On October 27, 2023, local time, in Bangkok, Thailand, Padongdan, the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin, was elected as the new leader of the Pheu Thai Party. Photo/Visual China
In addition to Patondan, Anutin Chaengwirakul, the leader of the second largest party in the coalition government, Pheu Thai Party, the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, is also a possible candidate. Anutin served as Minister of Health in the previous government and promoted the legalization of marijuana in Thailand.
Editor Zhang Lei
Proofread by Zhang Yanjun
