Five pledges will shape Anutin’s time as premier

Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the flexible Bhumjaithai Party (BJT), who officially became prime minister after royal endorsement on Sunday, faces tremendous challenges as head of the national government.

- Anucha Charoenpo

Apart from having to tackle the Thai-Cambodian border dispute and address bread-and-butter issues, the new prime minister will face an unusual predicament of fulfilling five promises he made with the progressive People’s Party (PP) in exchange for their support.

Two weeks ago, just after the Constitutional Court judges dismissed Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Mr Anutin succeeded in lobbying for support from the PP, which was the winner of the last election, gaining 143 votes in parliament to have him made the premier.

In accepting the PP’s five demands, he even signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) outlining what they were, which focused more on parliamentary matters and the constitutional rewriting process.

The first condition requires Mr Anutin to dissolve the House within four months after delivering the government's policy statement to parliament.

This means the Anutin government is expected to dissolve the Lower House in January, with a national poll likely to be held in April next year, if it complies with the MoA.