Thailand's king officially endorsed a pugnacious ally of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the country's new leader yesterday, paving the way for the return of a democratically elected government after a 2006 military coup.
Samak Sundaravej, head of the People's Power Party (PPP), was elected prime minister by lawmakers on Monday -- a choice that could put the new government on a collision course with the generals who toppled Thaksin for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
"The king has endorsed Samak as prime minister," PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrajang said yesterday.
APPROVAL
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, requiring King Bhumibol Adulyadej to officially endorse the prime minister and cabinet before they take up their posts.
Following the king's approval, Samak's six-party coalition will discuss cabinet appointments, a process that could take up to two weeks, Kuthep said.
Samak easily beat Democrat party candidate Abhisit Vejjejava by 310 votes to 163 in parliament on Monday, but analysts fear the election of a Thaksin ally may further divide a country that has struggled to regain its footing since the coup.
PROXY
Samak has made no secret that he is Thaksin's proxy, saying in an interview: "I have to bring [Thaksin] back to the limelight. We will use the same policies."
"It is likely to be a turbulent premiership ahead," said Panithan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
Samak, a hot-tempered right-wing firebrand, has appealed a two-year jail sentence for defaming a deputy Bangkok governor and is the subject of an ongoing corruption investigation from when he was Bangkok governor from 2001 to 2004.
Analysts say his political fortunes will wax or wane in line with those of Thaksin, who has vowed to return from exile in May to face a slew of corruption charges.
Samak's party, a new group backed by Thaksin, won the largest number of seats in general elections last month.
Samak has assembled a six-party coalition with about two-thirds of the 480 seats in parliament's lower house.
But he faces the suspicions of Thaksin's powerful foes -- the military that toppled him and the country's elite, including some associated with the monarchy.
The military tried without success to lessen the former prime minister's extensive influence after toppling him on Sept. 19, 2006.
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: Two of the men were shot by a male relative of the victims, whose families turned down the opportunity to offer them amnesty, the Supreme Court said Four men were yesterday publicly executed in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power. The executions in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most of them carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the center
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is leaning into his banking background as his country fights a trade war with the US, but his financial ties have also made him a target for conspiracy theories. Incorporating tropes familiar to followers of the far-right QAnon movement, conspiratorial social media posts about the Liberal leader have surged ahead of the country’s April 28 election. Posts range from false claims he recited a “satanic chant” at a campaign event to artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images of him in a pool with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “He’s the ideal person to be targeted here, for sure, due to
DISPUTE: Beijing seeks global support against Trump’s tariffs, but many governments remain hesitant to align, including India, ASEAN countries and Australia China is reaching out to other nations as the US layers on more tariffs, in what appears to be an attempt by Beijing to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat. Days into the effort, it is meeting only partial success from countries unwilling to ally with the main target of US President Donald Trump’s trade war. Facing the cratering of global markets, Trump on Wednesday backed off his tariffs on most nations for 90 days, saying countries were lining up to negotiate more favorable conditions. China has refused to seek talks, saying the US was insincere and that it
As Elon Musk called one of US President Donald Trump’s top economic aides a “moron,” the White House on Tuesday declared that “boys will be boys.” Musk and long-time Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro have been squabbling publicly over Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on most of its trading partners. The move has triggered a market sell-off and prompted analysts to wonder if the US is headed into a recession. “Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Boys will be boys, and we
RSS