Bangkok: A new Thai political party vowed Saturday to obey a command from the king blocking the candidacy of a princess for Prime Minister (PM) in a dramatic reversal that appeared to boost the junta’s chances ahead of March elections.
The announcement effectively blocks Princess Ubolratana’s unprecedented bid for the premiership and comes after an extraordinary rebuke of the candidacy by her younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
The Thai Raksa Chart party, affiliated with the powerful Shinawatra political clan, announced the princess as their candidate Friday morning. The move looked to rattle the status quo and threaten the ambitions of the junta that has ruled Thailand since it toppled the administration of Yingluck Shinawatra in a 2014 coup.
But the Thai king torpedoed the bid in a sharply worded statement the same day that said bringing senior royal family members into politics is against tradition, national culture and ‘highly inappropriate’. Thai Raksa Chart responded swiftly, cancelling a campaign event Saturday and issuing a statement saying it would respect ‘tradition and royal customs’. “Thai Raksa Chart party complies with the royal command,” it said.
Royalist Thais and celebrities praised the intervention on social media after the order, writing ‘long live the king’.
Analysts believe the events that unfolded over the past day will help the junta consolidate power and tilt the odds in favour of coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
AFP