General Prayuth elected new prime minister of Thailand

The head of the military junta in Thailand, Prayuth Chan Ocha, 60, has been unanimously elected Thursday as the new prime minister of Thailand after a show of hands held in Parliament. The session was conducted without other candidates were present in the city, according to the Thai newspaper The Nation. General Prayuth was the leader of the coup last May.

Prayuth was nominated as prime minister shortly before the vote, which according to the BBC took about 15 minutes- by parliamentary Tuang Nanthachai and was subsequently endorsed by 188 of the 191 members of the body. The president and two vice presidents abstained. The general, who according to the same newspaper now expects approval of the monarchy, will be the 29th prime minister of Thailand.

The military has ruled the country since the coup of May 22 and since then a number of analysts have argued that Prayuth could remain in power until the holding of new elections, which could take place in the second half of 2015.

Despite international pressure to restore democracy in Thailand, the military junta, whose official name is the National Committee for Peace and Order (NCPO) – Autumn has called elections for the year comes. ” The general does not want to return to democracy,” said Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch analyst quoted by Agence France Presse.

The blow came after six months of political instability during which at least 28 people were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of sporadic violence.

The coup has become the latest episode in a conflict that has pitted the monarchic capital class rural society, which supports the deposed former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother, also a former prime minister Thaksin.

Since then, the military has attempted to silence all criticism. Many people have protested against the military intervention in political affairs of the country through flash mobs in malls and performing silent reading of the novel ” 1984 ” by George Orwell, although such protests have fallen in recent weeks.

Moreover, the recent crisis has occurred at a time when the increasing concern for the succession of the current monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who at 86 is considered as a quasi-divine figure by much of the population.

Thailand also has one of the most protective toward the figure of the Crown laws, with penalties of up to fifteen years imprisonment for those accused of insulting the royal family.

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Posted by Nadeem Bajwa on Aug 22 2014. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.