Thai PM Prayut gets new term after confirmation by parliament
Updated 11:50, 06-Jun-2019
CGTN
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Thailand's current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will remain in the position, President of the National Assembly Chuan Leekpai announced late on Wednesday.
Prayut got 500 votes while his rival Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit got 244. The voting was conducted openly on a roll-call basis at an auditorium used as a makeshift parliament on Chaeng Wattana road.
A minimum of 375 votes from the 748 legislators in the House of Representatives and Senate was needed to win a simple majority in the March 24 election.
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha casts his ballot to vote in the general election at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, March 24, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha casts his ballot to vote in the general election at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, March 24, 2019. /Reuters Photo

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Prayut, who has run the country since 2014 after a military coup, was heading a meager majority government under a 19-party coalition led by the Palang Pracharath Party.
He is yet to set up a cabinet in which a maximum of 36 persons, including himself, can be named ministers.
Thanathorn was nominated by the opposition Democratic Front, which comprises seven parties that want to remove the military from politics. The Democratic Front is led by Pheu Thai, who was ousted from power in 2014 and is allied to exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose affiliated parties had until this year won every election since 2000.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, speaks during a news conference at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, June 5, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, speaks during a news conference at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, June 5, 2019. /Reuters Photo

In March, Pheu Thai won the most seats in the 500-seat elected House of Representatives. Prayut's Palang Pracharat party came second and Thanathorn's Future Forward Party third.
After the preliminary results of the March election, the Democratic Front projected that it had won a majority in the House.
However, the election commission later announced a change in a seat-allocation formula that gave 10 small parties one seat each, mostly at the expense of Thanathorn's Future Forward Party. These parties all joined Prayut's alliance.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha reviews a guard of honor after arriving to witness a disaster management training exercise at a military base in Lopburi, Thailand, February 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha reviews a guard of honor after arriving to witness a disaster management training exercise at a military base in Lopburi, Thailand, February 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Uttama Savanayana, leader of Palang Pracharat, put a posting on his Facebook site after Wednesday's vote saying the party "will look after the people and continue to lead Thailand forward."
Thanathorn told reporters outside parliament that his party would continue to work to end military dominance.
"Today we did not lose. But because of the rules we have been robbed of victory," he said. "If we continue to go forward strongly, one day they will lose."
(Cover: Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha attends the 2019 National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Day at the Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, June 5, 2019. /Reuters Photo)
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Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency