Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is pictured in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 27, 2023. Credit – Sakchai Lalit—AP
BANGKOK — Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai party said Thursday it will nominate its party leader, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in a parliamentary election for the country’s new leader, after the former prime minister Srettha Thavisin was removed by court order for an ethical violation.
Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is seen as the driving force behind Pheu Thai. He was the first Thai politician ever to win an absolute majority of seats. Thaksin’s remaining popularity is a factor in Paetongtarn’s support.
If Paetongtarn is approved by parliament in a vote scheduled for Friday, she will become Thailand’s second female prime minister and the country’s third leader from the Shinwatra family, after her father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.
Pheu Thai Secretary-General Sorawong Thienthong told reporters in parliament on Thursday that the party leadership would meet later in the day to decide on the prime ministerial nomination in parliament, with the vote scheduled for Friday.
Pheu Thai’s Srettha was ousted on Wednesday after less than a year in office, after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of a serious ethical breach over his appointment of a cabinet member jailed in connection with an alleged bribery attempt.
It was the second major ruling in a week that has shaken Thai politics. The same court last week dissolved the progressive and main opposition Move Forward party, which won last year’s general election but was excluded from power after violating the constitution by proposing an amendment to a law banning defamation of the country’s royal family. The party has since regrouped as the People’s Party.
Pheu Thai’s coalition partners have already expressed their support for the party’s candidate, including the Bhumjaithai Party, which finished third in the election, and the pro-military parties Phalang Pracharath and United Thai Nation.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the candidate and leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, is seen as another front-runner, although he said he would not vote against a Pheu Thai candidate on Friday.
Pheu Thai has two candidates running for the 2023 general election. One is Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is seen as a true patriarch behind Pheu Thai. Another is Chaikasem Nitisiri, 75, a former justice minister who served in the Pheu Thai government led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra and was ousted in a coup in 2014.
Pheu Thai finished second in last year’s election but was given the chance to form a government after the winner, the reformist Move Forward party, was blocked from taking power by the previous Senate, a military-appointed body.
Move Forward was then excluded from the coalition by Pheu Thai, which subsequently joined forces with parties allied with the previous military-backed government that had ousted it in a coup. The move was criticized by some supporters, but party officials say it was necessary to break the deadlock and begin reconciliation after decades of deep political divisions.
The former senators were given special authority to veto a prime ministerial candidate by the constitution adopted in 2017 under a military government. But that authority expired when their terms expired in May. New Senate members, selected in a complicated process last month, do not retain their veto power.
A candidate now only needs a majority of the lower house, or at least 247 votes. The House of Representatives now has 493 sitting members after six were banned from politics following the dissolution of Move Forward. Another lawmaker from the Bhumjaithai Party has been suspended pending a court ruling.
Although Pheu Thai’s main coalition partners supported their candidate, they all reiterated that they would not support a proposal to amend the royal defamation law, which became a major issue during last year’s election. Pheu Thai discussed the issue during the election campaign, but has toned down considerably since forming the government.
The law, also known as Article 112 in Thailand’s penal code, protects the monarchy from criticism with penalties of up to 15 years in prison for each offense. Critics say the law is often used as a tool to suppress political dissent.
The People’s Party, the new home for lawmakers from the disbanded Move Forward, said Thursday it would not vote on Friday to endorse a Pheu Thai candidate. Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said the party would continue its role as opposition.
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