Pheu Thai has moved quickly to preserve its advantage, with media broadcasting live images late on Wednesday of its coalition partners visiting the residence of Thaksin, 75, its founder and influential figurehead.
“They want to be decisive … The longer it takes, the more squabbles and power struggles will ensue, so the quicker the better,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University
“If they can vote sooner, then the vote is more manageable. They can control the outcome of the house.”
RISK OF BACKLASH
The court ruled Srettha had “grossly breached ethical standards” when he gave a cabinet post to Thaksin’s former lawyer Pichit Chuenban, who was briefly imprisoned for contempt of court in 2008 over an alleged attempt to bribe court staff, which was never proven.
The convening of parliament less than 48 hours after Srettha’s dismissal contrasts sharply with last year, when it took two months for the lower house to sit to vote on a new premier after an election.
Lawmakers allied with the military had then closed ranks to block the anti-establishment election winner Move Forward from forming a government, but rallied behind Srettha and Pheu Thai in a second vote six weeks later.
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