Thailand’s parliament on Thursday elected Anutin Charnvirakul to be the country’s new prime minister.
Anutin received 293 of 498 votes in the Thursday tally, easily surpassing the 249 required to win a simple majority. He is expected to take office within days but must first be formally appointed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. A new Cabinet is to be assembled over the coming weeks.
Anutin, a shrewd political operator, positioned his party between larger rival elites — first bringing down the former government by withdrawing from the ruling coalition, then winning the ensuing February general election. His Bhumjaithai party decisively won that vote on a nationalist, pro-military, pro-monarchy platform, with political instability and the growing border conflict with Cambodia boosting its performance.
The Bhumjaithai party is currently aligned with the politically battered Pheu Thai party — which had been in power until Anutin precipitated its collapse. Anutin has assembled an unlikely collection of small parties to form an alliance that will control 292 of the current 499 seats in parliament.
Speaking on Thursday, the 59-year-old said, “The government coalition is ready to perform its duty in the legislature and executive smoothly to bring prosperity to the country. We’ll quickly form a Cabinet and give a policy statement to solve the problems of the country.”
Thailand’s reformist People’s Party will now lead the opposition, though nearly a dozen of its top members could face political bans over attempts to overhaul the nation’s royal insult laws.
Observers will be watching to see if Anutin’s election brings longer-term political stability. Napon Jatusripitak, a political scientist at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, said Bhumjaithai’s sway over both chambers of parliament and institutional support for Anutin raise the prospect of medium-term stability. “People have strong reasons to believe that this government can last,” he said, noting the opposition’s fragmentation.
Anutin faces several pressing challenges, chief among them the ongoing conflict with Cambodia and a sputtering economy. Thailand also must manage potential fallout from the widening US-Israel-Iran conflict in the Middle East.
A simmering border dispute with Cambodia, which flared in December, remains unresolved despite a ceasefire. Bhumjaithai has promised to build a new border wall, close crossings and recruit about 100,000 volunteer soldiers to bolster security. During Anutin’s first stint as prime minister in the previous government he quickly authorized Thailand’s armed forces to take necessary actions to maintain control of the border.
Edited by: Kieran Burke