Thailand was in political purgatory today, as the opposition pressed its plans to vote in a new prime minister in defiance of a caretaker government scrambling to dissolve parliament.
A power vacuum has consumed Thailand’s top office since last Friday, when the constitutional court sacked Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over an ethics breach.
A coalition of opposition MPs has backed conservative construction magnate Anutin Charnvirakul to take the top office, with a vote scheduled for this Friday at around 10am.
However, Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party – still governing in a caretaking capacity – is attempting to dissolve the legislature and block the vote.
Pheu Thai has submitted a request to dissolve parliament to the king.
However, there has been no subsequent announcement in the royal gazette, with the hours counting down to the vote in the parliament building built by Anutin’s family firm.
Anutin, 58, has previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health minister – but is perhaps most famous for delivering on a promise in 2022 to legalise cannabis.
Pheu Thai has been a dominant force in Thai politics for the past two decades, cultivating a populist brand which has jousted with the pro-military, pro-monarchy establishment.
Paetongtarn’s sacking dealt another heavy blow to the Shinawatra dynasty, increasingly bedevilled by legal and political setbacks.
Anutin once backed Paetongtarn’s coalition, but abandoned it over her conduct in the border row with Cambodia that resulted in her ouster last week.
He has managed to secure the crucial backing of the 143-seat People’s Party, which is in opposition despite holding the most seats in parliament.
Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party is the third largest, so he would look likely to secure a comfortable majority with support from a smattering of other allies.
However, the People’s Party has said it will not join his cabinet, and has made its support conditional on parliament being dissolved for fresh elections within four months.
Pheu Thai announced acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had entered his request to dissolve parliament just moments after the People’s Party backed their rival.
However, the bid is potentially legally fraught, with disagreements over whether a caretaker government has the authority to make such a move, and a number of legal challenges already underway.
Pheu Thai said today that, if voting goes ahead, the party would still attempt to vote in its own candidate for prime minister.
“It does not matter if we win or lose the vote,” party secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP.
