Acting Thai government moves to dissolve parliament

Thailand's acting prime minister moved to dissolve parliament Wednesday, his party said, after the largest opposition group backed a rival candidate to lead the country.

The decision -- a potentially legally fraught one -- could see the kingdom hold fresh elections before the year's end, just two years after it last went to the polls in May 2023.

A power vacuum has consumed Thailand's top office since Friday, when prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was ousted by the Constitutional Court over an ethics breach.

Her Pheu Thai party -- still governing in a caretaker capacity -- had courted the power-broking opposition People's Party to back its new candidate for prime minister.

But the People's Party instead declared its support for conservative tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul.

Moments later, Pheu Thai secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP that acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai "has submitted a house dissolution decree".

Whether a caretaker government has the power to dissolve parliament is a hotly debated question.

But if the king approves the dissolution, an election must take place between 45 and 60 days later.

"It's likely an election will happen in the next few months," Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist from Ubon Ratchathani University, told AFP.

"An election might be the best solution for the country, because now it's almost impossible to form a normal government."

The People's Party also said its backing of Anutin was conditional on house dissolution within four months -- meaning his elevation to office would likely lead to fresh polls, albeit on a later timescale.

"It's always the same power struggles, while our lives remain unchanged," complained 23-year-old Bangkok hairdresser Kanjana Sangkasupan.

"As a member of the young generation, I want a new kind of politics."

- Covid and cannabis -

The People's Party pledged its 143-strong parliamentary bloc to Anutin, heir to a construction engineering fortune, who told reporters it was "the duty of MPs" to vote him into office.

"Forming a government is essential, and we understand the party is seeking a way to resolve the crises," he said.

The People's Party said they would vote him in as soon as Friday.

Meanwhile, one of Anutin's lieutenants said he entered a criminal complaint against acting Prime Minister Phumtham, accusing him of abuse of power for bidding to dissolve parliament.

It is unclear whether that complaint will result in charges, likewise a second made by a backbench MP accusing Phumtam of royal defamation for petitioning the king for dissolution without proper authority.

Thailand's strict lese-majeste laws shield the king and his close family from criticism, and carry a maximum sentence of up to 15 years per offence.

Anutin previously served as deputy prime minister, interior minister and health minister -- in 2022 delivering on a promise to legalise cannabis.

Charged with the tourist-dependent kingdom's Covid-19 response, he accused Westerners of spreading the virus and was forced to apologise after a backlash.

Pheu Thai is the current electoral vehicle of the Shinawatra dynasty, which has for two decades jousted with the kingdom's pro-monarchy, pro-military elite but is now flagging.

Anutin's Bhumjaithai Party was their key coalition partner but abandoned a pact to govern alongside Paetongtarn in apparent outrage over her conduct during a border row with Cambodia.

That dispute saw Paetongtarn sacked by the Constitutional Court on Friday.

The People's Party succeeded the Move Forward party which won the most seats in 2023 polls after campaigning to reduce military influence and reform the lese-majeste laws.

Move Forward was dissolved by court order, but any new election could see the People's Party resurrect their campaign.

In a Bangkok shopping mall Itthirat Sutannachana, 34, told AFP they would have his vote.

"I'll give them a chance as a new face to see if they can do anything differently," he said.