Srettha Thavisin elected Thailand PM as Thaksin returns from exile
Al JazeeraThe real estate mogul won the backing of both the upper and lower houses to become the country’s 30th prime minister. Srettha Thavisin of the populist Pheu Thai party has won the backing of parliament to become Thailand’s next prime minister, paving the way to a new coalition government and an end to weeks of uncertainty and political impasse. The vote came hours after the Pheu Thai party’s billionaire figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra made an historic homecoming after years as a fugitive in self-imposed exile. Political neophyte Srettha will be tasked with forming and holding together a potentially fragile coalition that will include parties backed by the military, which overthrew Pheu Thai governments in coups in 2006 and 2014. They will also support the continued legalisation of medical cannabis and work to amend the constitution to make the country “become more democratic,” while not touching the royal defamation law, Pheu Thai said.