ID :
338593
Thu, 08/21/2014 - 08:47
Auther :

Junta chief selected Thailand's interim PM

BANGKOK, August 21 (TNA) - Army and National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been selected Thailand’s interim prime minister by members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), nearly three months after he took control of the national administration on May 22. A total of 191 NLA members voted unanimously on Thursday morning for General Prayuth to become the 29th Thai Prime Minister, while three others, including NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai and two other vice presidents, ethically abstained from voting. As expected, there were no other candidates contesting for the provisional premiership post. The NLA members were required to cast their votes by roll-call and General Prayuth needed only 99 votes, or half of the total NLA members, to become the 29th prime minister since Thailand switched from the absolute monarchy to the constitutional monarchy in 1932. The NLA president will soon forward General Prayuth's name for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's endorsement in a Royal Command. General Prayuth was, meanwhile, absent during the NLA voting, as he attended a function marking the 64th anniversary of the founding of the 21st Infantry Regiment in seaside Chon Buri Province in the Thai East. Surrounded by a large throng of local and foreign journalists, General Prayuth, who will retire from his army commander-in-chief post at the age of 60 at the end of September 2014, smiled at the journalists and only said, “Let's the country move forward first”. (TNA)

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