New Thai PM drops key ex-junta party from government

Thailand's new prime minister named her cabinet on Wednesday, dumping an influential military-linked party out of government for the first time since 2019.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn officially endorsed the new team of ministers nominated by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai party, and she is expected to present her policy platform to parliament next week.

The 38-year-old Paetongtarn, daughter of controversial billionaire ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, was chosen as Thailand's youngest ever premier last month after a court ruling ousted her predecessor over an ethics case.

Many of her top ministers are unchanged, but dropped from the ruling coalition is the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) led by ex-army chief and coup-maker Prawit Wongsuwan.

PPRP was set up as a vehicle for junta leaders to keep power in civilian guise at the 2019 election and led the government until last year's polls, which brought Pheu Thai to power.

Pheu Thai caused surprise -- and consternation among some supporters -- when it added PPRP to its governing coalition in August last year.

Prawit was one of the architects of the putsch that ousted Pheu Thai's last prime minister -- Paetongtarn's aunt Yingluck Shinawatra -- in 2014, paving the way for five years of direct military rule.

The 79-year-old is under investigation after he was filmed slapping a female journalist as she tried to ask him questions.

Embracing PPRP was seen as a gamble by many because of the party's deep links to senior military officers whose hostility to Thaksin and his allies has coloured Thai politics for over 20 years.

The Thai political scene has long been dominated by a tussle for power between Thaksin and the kingdom's conservative pro-military, pro-royalist elite.

Parties linked to the former telecoms tycoon and one-time Manchester City owner have repeatedly won elections, only to find their governments upended by coups and court rulings.

Like his sister, Thaksin was also kicked out by the army in a coup, in 2006.

August was another month of mayhem as the Constitutional Court dissolved the main opposition Move Forward Party and sacked prime minister Srettha Thavisin in the space of a week.

Srettha's ouster paved the way for Paetongtarn to take the top job, but she faces a daunting task with the economy still struggling to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic and seasonal floods threatening many of the kingdom's provinces.

© Agence France-Presse