Thailand dissolves Parliament ahead of general election

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha dissolved Parliament on Monday, to set up a general election in May.  

Prayuth, who led a 2014-coup,   is seeking a fresh mandate to extend army-backed rule. The main opposition is the Pheu Thai party, controlled by the billionaire Shinawatra family. 

Pheu Thai and its earlier incarnations have won every election since 2001 and remain popular among the urban and rural working classes.

How the dissolution and the elections work

According to an announcement by the Royal Gazette, King Maha Vajiralongkorn has endorsed a decree to dissolve Parliament.

"This is a return of political decision-making power to the people swiftly to continue democratic government with the King as head of state," said the decree published on Monday.

The election must be held 45 to 60 days after the Parliament dissolution.

This will be the second election since the 2014 coup and the first since the country was rocked by youth-led pro-democracy protests in Bangkok in 2020.

Politicians have been on the unofficial campaign trail for weeks, with rising living costs and the kingdom's slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic high on the campaign agenda.

Thai voters choose members of parliament, which in conjunction with the Senate will select a prime minister by the end of July.

A Cabinet will be named by early August, according to a timeline provided by Thailand's government.

Who are the favorites for the election?

According to opinion polls, Pheu Thai's Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the frontrunner to be prime minister. The 36-year-old would be the third member of her family to be prime minister in the past two decades. Her father Thaksin held office in 2001-2006, and his sister Yingluck in 2011-2014.

Paentongram said she was confident of winning by a landslide, with the aim of averting any political motives against her party, which previously has been removed from office by judicial ruling and military coups.

Her support has grown by 10 points to 38.2% doubling the backing of her nearest contender.

The NIDA poll of 2,000 people showed that 50% of respondents would choose candidates from Pheu Thai.

Incumbent Prayuth Chan-ocha has been trailing in polls and was third in the latest survey by National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA).

After dissolving Parliament, Prayuth told reporters he was "glad I've built something good, generated revenue for the country, built industry. There has been a lot of investment."

However, a court ruled last year that he can serve only two more years in office under the constitution.

dmn/rt (AFP, Reuters)