Democratic Party Leader Abhisit Wins Election as Thailands Newest Prime Minister

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The following appears in THE NATION:

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Abhisit Wins 235: 198

 

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva beat his opponent Puea Pandin leader Pracha Promnok by 235 to 198 votes.

 

Three MPs abstained, including Abhisit himself.

 

The voting ended at 10:56 am.

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And this, from TNA:

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Democrat Abhisit Elected Thailand's Prime Minister

 

BANGKOK, Dec 15 (TNA) - Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has been officially voted Thailand's 27th prime minister by a majority of 233-197 votes in Monday's special session of the House of Representatives.

 

Mr. Abhisit surpassed former national police chief Pracha Promnok, Puea Pandin party leader, who won support from MPs loyal to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, convicted of corruption charges and now a fugitive at an unknown location.

 

The new prime minister is expected to be formally named later in the day on Monday.

 

Hundreds of police were deployed outside Parliament for the session for fear of a street protest as some demonstrators gathered outside the House to protest the vote outcome.

 

The vote comes in the wake of months of political crisis caused by anti-government protests which saw the country's two main airports seized last month.

 

Mr. Abhisit, 44, graduated from Oxford University with first-class honour in philosophy, politics and economics, and later earned a master's degree in economics at Oxford.

 

He first won national election in 1992 as an MP for Bangkok at the age of 28, the only Democrat MP elected in the capital that year.

 

He served as government spokesman in 1992 and as Minister to the Prime Minister's Office in the government led by the then prime minister Chuan Leekpai in 1997. Mr. Abhisit was elected Democrat party leader in 2005.

 

However, for some years his party has taken the role as a sole opposition party as it failed to win an outright majority in the House of Representatives.

 

Mr. Abhisit earlier said building national reconciliation and improving the country's economy would be his first priority were he to be elected prime minister.

 

"I think it would be good if the government leader would also lead the economic team," Mr. Abhisit said. He expressed optimism that he could improve and restore confidence among investors within two to three months.

 

(TNA)

 

 

 

[Guest fountainhall]

Let us hope that this leads to a much needed period of stability. And further, that Toxin's influence will continue on the decline. But surely it was idiotic for Abhisit to abstain! What would have happened if the Democrats had lost by one vote? Yes, I know it was all sewn up in advance - but the best laid plans . . .

[Guest fountainhall]

I spoke too soon. CNN is now reporting ugly violent scenes outside parliament with Toxin's red shirts surrounding the parliament building and the police again doing little to stop them. We'll soon see if Abhisit has the guts to really take control.

[PattayaMale]

I noticed that the 2 sources quote different number of votes.

 

Anyway, I wonder if one of the first items of business will be revoking all of Thaskin's visas. This is one of the things the PAD was demanding.

 

Also I noted that the "Red-Shirts" had started to try and mimic the protests of the PAD as they tried to block the entrances and exits of Parliament.

 

Since the vote was so close, it seems that it maybe very difficult to hold a coalition together. Thaskin certainly will try something to gain back power. This is a bigger loss of face than when a coup occurred. He will have a harder time saying it was not democratic since the new government followed the constitution. Interesting to see what is next.