Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced on Tuesday that he was leaving politics nine years after taking power in a military coup and vowed to stay in power only temporarily.
His announcement was widely expected after his military-backed United Thai Nation party was rejected within the May 14 elections, through which it won just 36 of 500 seats. He will remain interim prime minister until a brand new government is formed.
The former army chief, a staunch royalist, led the junta until the 2019 elections and was elected by parliament as prime minister for one more 4 years, a position his opponents said was a foregone conclusion.
Prayuth, 69, denied this and said on Tuesday that he had “achieved many successes”.
“I, as Prime Minister, have worked hard to protect the nation, religion and monarchy for the good of the nation I love. The results are now bearing fruit for the public,” he said in a press release.
“I have tried to strengthen the country in all areas for stability and peace and have overcome many obstacles at home and abroad.”
In the nine years because the coup, Prayuth has weathered quite a few challenges from court cases, House of Representatives votes of confidence and street protests from opponents who saw him as an opportunist with no public mandate.
Thailand Pita is confident of becoming prime minister when parliament schedules a vote on July 13
Thailand Pita is confident of becoming prime minister when parliament schedules a vote on July 13
The announcement comes as the brand new parliament prepares to convene on Thursday to vote on the following prime minister, with the consequence uncertain.
Prayuth led the takeover of power from the elected civilian government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014, describing it as an act of “duty” to stabilize a rustic defined by violent, rival street protests, coups and short-lived civilian rule.
Prayuth later reinvented himself as a civilian prime minister under a structure written by his allies.
Critics say the document cemented the facility of the royalist army through the 250-seat Senate and allowed the federal government to pump public money into the armed forces while favoring big business in one in every of Asia’s least equal societies.
It stays hugely divisive and has even lost the support of political allies as accusations of economic bungling grow from a public hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Critics say he represents a royalist establishment out of touch with reality that is not going to allow democracy to take root. Since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, there have been 13 coups.
Additional reports by the SCMP Asia Office
