Thailand’s PM dissolves Parliament to pave the way for May elections

March 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayuth Chan Ocha, announced this Friday the dissolution of Parliament with the aim of paving the way for the next general elections, scheduled for May 7.

The decree, which has yet to be signed by the Thai king, Maha Vajiralongkorn, will be published in the ‘Royal Gazette’, after which the elections, according to the legislation, must be held between 45 and 60 days after the dissolution of Parliament .

Prayuth, a former coup leader who in recent years has managed to get rid of all attempts to remove him from office — he has survived four no-confidence motions — is scheduled to run for election as the leader of the United Thai Nation party, a formation to the who joined in December 2022.

Despite the fact that the polls do not favor the current prime minister, he could be re-elected to office, being the key to a great coalition, if the candidates that are presented do not reach a majority. By contrast, the opposition Puea Tai party is emerging as a favorite.

Although at the moment the candidate of Puea Tai who will contest the May elections is unknown, some names have emerged within the party, such as Paethongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, convicted of corruption and fleeing the country.

The other main contender for the upcoming elections is the Thai People’s State Power Party (Palang Pracharath), currently the main coalition government formation and linked to the coup military junta that seized power in 2014.

Prawit, 77, will thus face his protégé Prayuth, although the relationship between the two is good, since the former head of the Army held the acting head of government for a time last year after the country’s Constitutional Court disqualified the prime minister temporarily following an opposition complaint about his maximum term limit.