TEHRAN, Jun 5 - Thailand's Parliament convened Wednesday for a vote that is expected to keep Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister five years after he seized power in a military coup.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Prayuth was nominated by the military-backed Palang Pracharath party and faces a sole opponent representing a coalition of anti-military parties, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of the Future Forward party.
Although a vote was expected to take place Wednesday, its timing became uncertain because of the open-ended debate with the two sides touting the merits of their candidates and the weaknesses of their opponents. It was a novelty for Thais to see parliamentary battling, after five years of army rule in which there was only a tame rubberstamp assembly.
While the formation of a government will finally return Thailand to civilian rule, it will be done under a new political system enacted by the junta Prayuth leads and its appointees. It's a system that critics say is meant to prolong rule by the military and its allies in the conservative establishment, rather than reflect the will of everyday Thais.
The military-backed party that nominated Prayuth for prime minister won the second-highest number of seats in the House of Representatives in the March general election.
But Prayuth is virtually assured to remain in office because the prime minister is chosen jointly by the 500-seat House and the 250-seat Senate, whose members were appointed by the junta and include members of the military.
The military-backed party, Palang Pracharath, holds 116 House seats, as well as pledges from lawmakers from smaller parties.
Source: AP
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