Thai Acting PM Moves to Dissolve Parliament; Sets Stage for Fresh Polls

Decision comes after largest opposition party backs tycoon as rival PM candidate

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BANGKOK - Thailand's acting prime minister moved to dissolve Parliament on Sept 3 after the largest opposition party 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 is over, and just two years after it last went to the polls in May 2023.

A power vacuum has consumed Thailand's top office since Aug 29, when then 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 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 said 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 according to the Thai Constitution, if the king approves the dissolution of Parliament, an election must take place between 45 and 60 days later.