King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Wednesday invested businessman Srettha Thavisin as Prime Minister of Thailand, who takes office in a political context made difficult by his alliance with the generals.
Dressed in a white civil servant’s suit, Srettha Thavisin knelt in respect before a portrait of the monarch who reigns as Rama X during a ceremony at his party’s headquarters, Pheu Thai, in Bangkok. .
The 61-year-old property developer officially became the first head of government from civil society since the 2014 coup, the day after his appointment by deputies and senators in Parliament.
This political novice succeeds former general Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who leaves behind a kingdom divided and undermined by inequalities.
“I will work ethically and honestly. The benefit of the country is the highest priority. I am confident that the next four years will be years of change,” he said in a short speech.
Srettha has promised to revive sluggish growth, but his program is based on a fragile coalition between pro-democracy and pro-army formations which excludes the main force in the Assembly, Move Forward.
This controversial alliance allowed the return from exile of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, at the origin of the Pheu Thai movement, in exchange for the maintenance of the government of the military despite their electoral defeat, according to observers.
After fifteen years abroad, the 74-year-old billionaire returned by private jet to Bangkok on Tuesday, where he was imprisoned in the process for a series of convictions in corruption cases.
Srettha, with the build of a rugby player, presents a more consensual profile than Pita Limjaorenrat, leader of Move Forward, whose candidacy for the post had been rejected by the conservative elites who find him too radical.
The real estate developer defended during the campaign a payment of more than 260 euros to all Thais over the age of sixteen to revive household consumption, penalized by inflation, as well as an increase in the minimum wage.
“We will have to wait to see if the prime minister-designate will be able to deliver on his promises. And how long it will take him to implement these policies,” said Saranya, 45, a noodle shop owner in Bangkok. .
Move Forward, the darling of the younger generations, caused an earthquake by winning the legislative elections of May 14 on the basis of a program of rupture providing for a new Constitution, an overhaul of the army and the end of the monopoly of certain companies.
But his plan to reform the harsh lèse-majesté law, a sensitive subject in Thailand where the king enjoys a status of quasi-deity, has welded the conservative bloc against him and pushed the Senate, appointed by the army, to dismiss Pita.
Unlike Move Forward, Pheu Thai, who came second in the ballot, agreed to negotiate with the military, despite his promise never to do so.
“It’s a dangerous game” for the party, which risks losing some of its most committed supporters against the army, admitted political scientist Napon Jatusripitak.
Mentor of the new Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, in power from 2001 to 2006, was welcomed Tuesday by hundreds of supporters on his return to Thailand, before being taken to a prison.
He was transferred during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday to a police hospital, better suited to monitoring his health problems, especially in the heart.
The former owner of Manchester City football club has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for what he considers to be politically motivated cases.
But the return to power of Pheu Thai could allow him to obtain an adjustment or a reduction in sentence.
23/08/2023 13:52:55 – Bangkok (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
