Thailand's parliament has picked Anutin Charnvirakul, the 58-year-old leader of the Bhumjaithai party, to be the next prime minister.
Anutin won with 311 votes in the 493-seat parliament, exceeding the threshold required to become the Southeast Asian country's prime minister, according to the Bangkok Post.
In the 2023 Thai general election, the Pheu Thai Party won 141 seats, making it the second-largest party, while the Move Forward Party won 151.
Anutin’s Bhumjaithai party has become known as “the quintessential power broker,” Thai studies scholars Napon Jatusripitak and Suthikarn Meechan said in an article published online last year.
“This stems from its lack of ideological commitments (except being more pro-monarchy in recent years), aggressive tactics in poaching MPs from other parties, and Teflon-like pragmatism in forming and switching alliances,” they wrote.
The 58-year-old’s political ambitions have been supported by his family’s wealth and a strong regional power base in Thailand’s north-eastern Isan region, where his Bhumjaithai party garners support from the large, rural population.
The prime ministerial election in parliament was announced earlier after the Constitutional Court removed Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office.
The court found she had violated ethical standards by criticising a senior Thai commander during a phone call with Cambodian leader Hun Sen amid border tensions. On Tuesday, Paetongtarn filed a lawsuit challenging the ruling.
The episode has exacerbated turbulence in Thailand's political system, which has seen frequent clashes between elected governments and the judiciary since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's ousting in 2006.
