Thailand’s rival camps jostle to fill power void after PM’s ouster

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By Panu Wongcha-um

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s political rivals jockeyed for power on Saturday after a court sacked the prime minister, with two camps declaring they were ready to form the next government but with no indication when that might happen.

The Constitutional Court’s dismissal of Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Friday for an ethics violation triggered a burst of dealmaking. Her ruling alliance put on a united front, while a party that quit her coalition sought to rally support to fill the vacuum. 

Paetongtarn, 39, was the sixth premier from or backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family to be ousted by the military or judiciary in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power and patronage among Thailand’s rival elites. 

With an array of competing interests, histories of betrayal and big war chests among the political groups, more shifts in allegiance could create deadlock at a time of public unease and prolonged malaise in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy. 

The once-dominant Pheu Thai party, founded by Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin Shinawatra, has a mountain to climb to shore up a coalition that has haemorrhaged public support, opening the door to its former alliance partner Bhumjaithai to woo other parties and seek defections.

Bhumjaithai’s leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, stole the spotlight from Paetongtarn on Friday, as a phalanx of media livestreamed his every move as he shuttled between parties offering pledges that included calling an election within four months. 

The process to elect a prime minister could be protracted, as the constitution provides no deadline. There was no indication on Saturday of when parliament would hold a vote.  

Flanked by several factions that once backed the coalition, Anutin told a press conference late on Friday he already had the votes in the bag.

“We are here to work for the people, we have enough votes of support,” he said. 

PROSPECT OF DEADLOCK

Emerging as a kingmaker is the opposition People’s Party, the largest force in parliament and a reincarnation of the party that won the 2023 election on an anti-establishment platform but was blocked from power by lawmakers allied with the royalist military. 

The party, which holds nearly a third of house seats, has said it will not join a government but would support any party promising an early election and a referendum on amending the constitution. 

Acting premier Phumtham Wechayachai expressed confidence on Saturday that his Pheu Thai would prevail, stressing there was no fixed timeframe on electing a prime minister.  

“I believe the People’s Party will use reason to make its decision. I don’t think they will be in a hurry,” he said. “Pheu Thai can bring in more people.” 

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said that with the Shinawatra family’s populist juggernaut Pheu Thai in decline and unable to deliver on its agenda, Anutin had the upper hand for now.

“Anutin, he’s manoeuvring, clearly manoeuvring,” Thitinan said. “He has a better chance because he’s a more known quantity. He knows how the system works and he has a very strong base.”

“It now comes down to the numbers game.”  

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by William Mallard)