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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai PM-elect announces coalition |
| 2011-07-05 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] A day after she led Pheu Thai party to a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra has announced a new five-party coalition government. Yingluck, a sister of the ousted leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, unveiled an agreement on yesterday where the new coalition will control about 60 per cent of parliament, or 299 seats. The accord came unusually quickly, as constitution allows the new parliament 30 days of the elections to convene and select a house speaker, according to a 2007 constitution. Pheu Thai won a majority of 265 in the 500-seat parliament - a margin big enough to rule alone without forming a coalition - and Yingluck is poised to become Thailand's first female prime minister. Yingluck said yesterday the first mission of her administration would be "how to lead the country to unity and reconciliation" and vowed to boost transparency and to fight corruption. "I myself, and Pheu Thai, are determined to serve the nation," she said. Yingluck said her coalition would be joined by Chart Thai Pattana, with 19 seats in preliminary results; Chart Pattana Pheu Pandin, with 7 seats; Palang Chon, 7; and Mahachon, 1. Earlier on yesterday Abhisit Vejjajiva, the outgoing prime minister, resigned from leadership of the Democrat party, taking responsibility for his party's loss. "As the election results came out with the party winning fewer votes and fewer seats than in the 2007 poll, and in the spirit of a good leader of an organization, I should take responsibility," he said. Abhisit said the Democrats will hold a general meeting within 90 days to choose a successor. Thailand has been suffering from political instability for the past several years since Thaksin, a telecoms tycoon turned prime minister, was deposed in a 2006 military coup alongside conviction for corruption. Thailand has seen 18 coups since becoming a constitutional monarchy in 1932. Sunday's elections were held amid looming fears of a renewed turmoil, as the memory of last year's mass opposition rallies in Bangkok, the capital, which sparked a military crackdown that left at least 91 people dead. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... Gen. Prawit Wongsuwon, the Thai defence minister, eased concern on yesterday by saying the army would accept a government led by 44-year-old Yingluck, and promising that the military would not stage a coup. "I've said this several times,'' Prawit was quoted as saying by several Thai newspapers. "We are not going to intervene.'' Critics of Yinigluck have voiced concerns that she might function as a power proxy for her billionaire older brother, or perhaps facilitating his return home |
| Posted by:Fred |