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.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS