Thai acting PM moves to dissolve Parliament, opposition backs conservative tycoon

Asia
By Editor_1
Thailand's largest opposition party on Wednesday (September 3, 2025) gave Anutin Charnvirakul (centre), former Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister, its crucial backing to serve as the nation's next prime minister, after the incumbent was last week ousted by court order - Madaree TOHLALA / AFP

BANGKOK – Thailand’s acting prime minister has moved to dissolve Parliament after the largest opposition party backed a rival candidate for prime minister, boosting the prospect of an end to days of political deadlock.

Pheu Thai secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong said acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai “has submitted a House dissolution decree”.

Moments earlier, the opposition People’s Party announced it would back Pheu Thai’s rival candidate to be the nation’s next prime minister  –  conservative tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul.

 Anutin told reporters he has the support of 146 lawmakers from seven groups and parties in his bid to become prime minister.

He said he was committed to the conditions laid out by the People’s Party.

According to the Thai Constitution, if the King approves the dissolution of Parliament, an election must take place between 45 and 60 days later.

The People’s Party’s decision to back Bhumjaithai over the ruling Pheu Thai party could be a game-changer, as it controls nearly a third of Lower House seats.

People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said the party decided to back Bhumjaithai’s Anutin for prime minister to prevent the return of a coalition government that is not fit to rule again.  

“There is a risk that there would be a return of the old coalition, which has failed to run the country in the last two years, and a risk of the return of the coup maker as prime minister,” he said, referring to Prayut Chan-o-cha, a general who seized power in 2014 and remains eligible to become premier, despite retiring.

The ruling Pheu Thai party, which last week suffered the loss of its prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, to a court ruling, had sent out mixed messages late on Tuesday (2), saying it was ready to face off with the rival Bhumjaithai party on a vote on a new prime minister, but could also call a new election. 

Paetongtarn’s dismissal on Aug 29 for an ethics violation triggered a scramble for power, with her once-dominant Pheu Thai party racing to shore up a fragile coalition with a slender majority as its former alliance partner Bhumjaithai mounted a bold challenge to form its own government.

Heir to a construction engineering fortune, Anutin previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health minister – in 2022 delivering on a promise to legalize cannabis.

Charged with the tourist-dependent kingdom’s COVID-19 response, he accused Westerners of spreading the virus and was forced to apologize after a backlash.

His party was a key coalition backer of Paetongtarn, abandoning their government pact this summer over her conduct during a border row with Cambodia.

That same dispute saw Paetongtarn sacked by the Constitutional Court on Aug 29, after it found she had breached ministerial ethics in the spat.

It was a heavy blow to Pheu Thai – the current electoral vehicle of the Shinawatra dynasty that has, for two decades, jousted with the kingdom’s pro-military, pro-monarchy elite.

Pheu Thai had also been courting the People’s Party’s support for their own candidate to return to the prime minister’s office.

Only candidates nominated as potential premiers in the 2023 election are eligible for the office, and a streak of turmoil has seen the number of potential leaders whittled down to just five.

The People’s Party succeeded the Move Forward party that won the most seats in the 2023 polls after campaigning to reduce military influence and reform Thailand’s tough lese majeste laws.

The bid to relax the royal defamation laws resulted in Move Forward being dissolved by court order, but any new election could see the People’s Party resurrect the campaign.

-AFP/Reuters

Editor_1
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