By Thai Newsroom Reporters
IN WHAT WAS SEEN as a last-minute twist of a decision, de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter/Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra is being named prime minister in tomorrow’s (Aug. 16) special House session.
Most members of the executive board of the Pheu Thai as core of the current coalition resolved today to name Paetongtarn Thailand’s 31st prime minister in place of a court-impeached former prime minister Srettha Thavisin though some had preferred Pheu Thai MP Chaikasem Nitisiri for head of the Pheu Thai-led government instead.
Given a majority of 313 MPs currently on the coalition side among a total of 493 elected lawmakers, Thaksin’s 38-year-old daughter is largely anticipated to secure adequate yea votes to take the helm of government tomorrow.
However, some among the Pheu Thai rank and file worried about the 75-year-old Chaikasem’s poor health whilst others expressed concerns over the probability of the inexperienced Paetongtarn being vulnerable to future legal battles raised either inside or outside of parliament against the new woman prime minister, a partisan source said.
Paetongtarn is largely feared by the party’s rank and file to come too much, too often under unrelenting political and social pressure to stand it and be safe from future legal battles which could possibly land her a jail sentence as had been the case of her aunt/fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her own father, the partisan source said.
Both Chaikasem and Paetongtarn had been Srettha’s partisan running mates for prime minister in last year’s general election in which Thaksin’s party was the second largest elected camp after the court-dissolved Move Forward.
Prominent figures of all other coalition partners including the Bhumjaithai under de facto party boss Newin Chidchob, the Palang Pracharath led by former deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan and the Ruam Thai Sang Chart under de facto party boss/former coup leader-turned-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had initially offered solid support for the Pheu Thai partisan candidate for prime minister in tomorrow’s House voting session primarily on grounds of the Pheu Thai being core of the current coalition.
The Pheu Thai-attached Srettha was yesterday found guilty by the Constitutional Court of severely breaching the constitution and code of political ethics by naming Pichit Cheunban, a former convict and former lawyer previously hired by Thaksin, a minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, thus rendering an immediate removal of his prime-ministerial status.
Thaksin had allegedly pushed for the contentious naming of his former lawyer who had finally resigned under pressure as the portfolioless minister but that could not save the former prime minister who had run the country for nearly a year from the legal impeachment which cost him his prime-ministerial status.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra with her father/de facto party boss Thaksin Shinawatra.
Front Page: Paetongtarn Shinawatra next to Pheu Thai Party signage. Both photos: Thai Rath
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House tipped to name new PM on Friday
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