Thailand’s military-backed PM voted in after junta creates loose coalition

The former head of Thailand’s military junta has been selected as the country’s next prime minister, securing the military’s already tight grip on power after the first Thai election in eight years. Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has been PM for the past five years after a military coup in 2014, will lead a coalition government. He was voted back in on Wednesday by the newly formed democratic parliament. Prayuth’s confirmation as prime minister came after more than 12 hours of deliberations by MPs. He was not present for the debate or the late-night vote. Phalang Pracharat, the political party that operates as a proxy for the military, had earlier cobbled together a ruling coalition that has a slim parliamentary majority, with 254 seats in the 500-seat lower house. Wednesday’s developments confirmed what many had feared, that an election supposed to signal Thailand’s return to democracy would lead to a continuation of military rule. Prayuth’ previous term was defined by the jailing of critics, a ban on protests and political activity and the suppression of free speech and free media. Most had expected the military coalition deal, in which the medium-sized Democrat and Bhumjaithai parties and 16 small entities agreed to unite [...]

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