Anutin Charnvirakul elected as Thailand's new prime minister
發佈日期: 2025-09-05 19:45
TVB News
Thailand's conservative leader Anutin Charnvirakul has won a simple majority to become the new prime minister following Paetongtarm Shinawatra's dismissal.
With the endorsement of the main opposition party, Anutin secured more than half of the votes in parliament, and outmanoeuvred the populist Pheu Thai Party.
Thailand has been under a caretaker government amid months of political turmoil.
Its House of Representatives today convened to select a new prime minister in a voting where major party leaders made competing campaign promises.
Debating began around noon.
Five candidates nominated during the 2023 general election were eligible to run under the constitution, and at least 247 votes are needed to win the House majority.
The ruling Pheu Thai Party of the Shinawatra family has picked former Minister of Justice Chaikasem Nitisiri for premiership.
Tycoon-turned-politician Anutin Charnvirakul, who heads the conservative Bhumjaithai Party, took the lead in the race.
The Southeast Asian nation's biggest opposition pro-democracy People's Party earlier signalled it would back Anutin with its 143-strong parliamentary bloc, as long as he agrees to dissolve the parliament within four months and organises a referendum on a constitution amendment.
Anutin said on Wednesday he was committed to the conditions.
The 58-year-old joined his father's construction firm Sino-Thai in 1990 and served as its president before he pivoted to politics.
He was appointed as deputy prime minister, interior minister and minister of public health, and became one of the key proponents of the legalisation of cannabis.
Anutin's Bhumjaithai Party used to be Pheu Thai's junior partner to form a government that ruled for two years, but exited the coalition as outrage erupted over Paetongtarn Shinawatra's handling of a border dispute with Cambodia.
The move saw Paetongtarn sacked as prime minister by the Constitutional Court last week for allegedly breaching ethics law.
Meanwhile, Paetongtarn's long-exiled father Thaksin, former Thai premier and telecom billionaire, is on the ropes, facing legal challenges over his prolonged hospital stay in lieu of prison.
Just five days before a high court ruling that could open him up to another prison sentence, the politician flew out of Thailand on a private jet late on Thursday.
Thaksin said he initially intended to travel to Singapore for a medical checkup but faced delays from the immigration department, thus he decided to change course to Dubai instead.
