By Kenny Teng
BANGKOK, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Thailand’s Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul was elected as the new prime minister on Friday after securing a parliamentary majority.
The 58-year-old veteran politician, backed by a Bhumjaithai-led coalition and supported by the opposition People’s Party, defeated Pheu Thai candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri in the 490-member ballot, securing 311 votes to 152, with 27 abstentions.
The outcome cements Anutin’s position, as he comfortably surpassed the 247-vote threshold required to be elected prime minister and form the next government.
The ballot, which began at 3 pm local time, concluded within an hour.
House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha will submit Anutin’s name to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for a royal command of appointment.
Anutin, a former deputy prime minister, as well as interior and health minister, was a central figure in combating Thailand’s COVID-19 outbreak.
Born in Bangkok, Anutin is the eldest son of former Interior Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul.
He studied at Assumption College and earned an engineering degree from Hofstra University in 1989, followed by a Mini MBA from Thammasat University in 1990.
Anutin, heir to a major construction fortune, once served as president of his family’s firm, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PCL, which was involved in major government projects including Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
An engineer by training, he entered politics in 1996 as an adviser to the foreign minister, and later served as deputy minister of public health and commerce.
Banned from politics for five years after the Thai Rak Thai Party’s dissolution in 2006, he returned in 2012 to lead the Bhumjaithai Party.
-- BERNAMA
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