Acting Thai government moves to dissolve parliament

Thailand's acting prime minister moved to dissolve parliament
Wednesday, his party said, after the largest opposition group backed a rival
candidate to lead the country.
The
decision -- a potentially legally fraught one -- could see the kingdom hold
fresh elections before the year's end, just two years after it last went to the
polls in May 2023.
A power vacuum has consumed Thailand's top office since Friday,
when prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was ousted by the Constitutional
Court over an ethics breach.
Her Pheu
Thai party -- still governing in a caretaker capacity -- had courted the
power-broking opposition People's Party to back its new candidate for prime
minister.
But the
People's Party instead declared its support for conservative tycoon Anutin
Charnvirakul.
Moments
later, Pheu Thai secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP that acting
Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai "has submitted a house dissolution
decree".
Whether a
caretaker government has the power to dissolve parliament is a hotly debated
question.
But
according to the Thai constitution, if the king approves the dissolution of
parliament, an election must take place between 45 to 60 days later.
"It's
likely an election will happen in the next few months," Titipol
Phakdeewanich, a political scientist from Ubon Ratchathani University told AFP.
"An
election might be the best solution for the country, because now its almost
impossible to form a normal government."
The
People's Party also said its backing of Anutin was conditional on house
dissolution within four months -- meaning his elevation to office would likely
lead to fresh polls, albeit on a later timescale.
- Covid and cannabis
-
The
People's Party pledged its 143-strong parliamentary bloc to back Anutin, heir
to a construction engineering fortune, who told reporters it was "the duty
of MPs" to vote him into office.
"From
this point onward forming a government is essential, and we understand the
party is seeking a way to resolve the crises," he said.
Anutin
previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health
minister -- in 2022 delivering on a promise to legalise cannabis.
Charged
with the tourist-dependent kingdom's Covid-19 response, he accused Westerners
of spreading the virus and was forced to apologise after a backlash.
But with
parliamentary dissolution pending, it is unclear whether he will make it to the
top office.
Pheu Thai
is the current electoral vehicle of the Shinawatra dynasty, which has for two
decades jousted with the kingdom's pro-monarchy, pro-military elite.
But their
influence is in decline, analysts say, their move to dissolve parliament more
evidence of flagging momentum.
Anutin's
Bhumjaithai Party was a key coalition backer of former prime minister
Paetongtarn but abandoned their pact to govern this summer over her conduct
during a border row with Cambodia.
That same
dispute saw Paetongtarn sacked by the Constitutional Court on Friday.
Only
candidates nominated as potential premiers in the 2023 election are eligible to
serve as prime minister, and a streak of turmoil had seen the number of
potential leaders whittled down to just five.
















