South East Asia Post
22 Aug 2014, 11:37 GMT+10
BANGKOK, Thailand - Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who overthrew an elected Thai government three months ago, has decided to shed his uniform and was Thursday appointed as the new prime minister, giving the military absolute powers in the country.
The general was chosen by a legislature whose members he hand-picked to form the National Legislative Assembly last month. Nobody expressed dissent and Prayuth was elected unopposed.
Prayuth was not present at Thursday's vote.
When asked if he had heard the news, Prayuth, who was inspecting troops at an army camp in Chonburi province south of Bangkok, said, "I didn't know I had been asked to join..First, I want the country to move on."
The 60-year-old general, who led the May 22 coup, is due to retire from the military next month. Till then he will hold both positions the prime minister as well as military chief.
Prayuth's appointment must be approved by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a formality likely to happen within a week. The prime minister will then name a 35-member cabinet for an interim government.
The general has said he plans to press ahead with a year of political reforms before a new election that he said will take place by late 2015.
He has been the de facto prime minister since he ousted then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawa. Thailand's military has a history of intervening in politics and has seized power 12 times since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932.
Yingluck, the sister of self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was earlier forced to step down May 7, after a court found her guilty of abuse of power.
The army later said its move to remove the government two weeks later was necessary to restore order in the country in deep political crisis.
Australia, the United States and the European Union have already downgraded diplomatic ties with Thailand after the coup.
Thailand has been deeply divided for years between supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin, a telecom billionaire who was himself ousted by the army in 2006, and the traditional establishment in the capital and the south.
Get a daily dose of South East Asia Post news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to South East Asia Post.
More InformationGENEVA, Switzerland: The World Health Organization (WHO) has received a proposal by 13 member states requesting that Taiwan be allowed ...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the bloc would ensure Ukraine that it has ...
Former U.S. President George W. Bush has made an embarrassing mistake in criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin over his decision ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. State Department has announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of ...
JAKARTA, Indonesia: A new poll released this week indicated that Indonesian President Joko Widodo's approval rating has hit a six-year ...
EAST JAVA, Indonesia: A tourist bus crashed into a billboard on a highway on Indonesia's main island of Java this ...
SACRAMENTO, California: In another blow to the state's push to diversify corporate leadership, a California court judge has ruled that ...
KATHMANDU, Nepal - According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Nepal has reported its first cases of African ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stock markets reversed sharp losses in late trading to eke out minor gains in ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: U.S. retail sales rose strongly in April, as consumers bought more motor vehicles and spent more at restaurants, ...
LONDON, England: The UK's jobless rate fell to a 48-year low in the first three months of 2022, it was ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - A reduction of the official lending criteria in China has boosted stocks on the mainland, and ...