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.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
RSS