BANGKOK: Thailand's prime minister dissolved parliament on Friday, paving the way for general elections early next year as deadly border clashes continue with neighbor Cambodia.
The move comes earlier than expected and just three months after Anutin Charnvirakul -- of the conservative Bhumjaithai party -- became prime minister when his predecessor was removed from office over an ethics violation.
“The House of Representatives is dissolved to hold a new general election for members of the House,” a decree published in the Royal Gazette on Friday said.
Anutin was widely expected to wait until after Christmas to dissolve parliament.
“Since the administration is a minority government and domestic political conditions are fraught with multiple challenges, the government cannot continue administering state affairs continuously, efficiently, and with stability,” the Royal Gazette said, citing a report received from Anutin.
‘Appropriate solution’
“Therefore, the appropriate solution is to dissolve the House of Representatives and hold a new general election.”
The dissolution comes as fighting stemming from a decades-long territorial dispute over ancient temples has flared again on the border with Cambodia, where clashes have killed at least 20 people and displaced around 600,000, mostly in Thailand.
In a statement, Cambodia’s defense ministry said the Thai military continued to shell and fire machine guns into Cambodian territory on Friday morning.
AFP journalists heard continuous artillery fire at the border on Friday, ahead of an expected call between Anutin and US President Donald Trump, who has made vocal attempts to broker peace between the southeast Asian neighbors.
‘Couple of phone calls’
At the congressional ball at the White House on Thursday night, Trump claimed again to have solved eight wars.
“Although Thailand and Cambodia, I think I’m going to have to make a couple of phone calls on Thailand, but we’ll get that one back on track,” he said.
The two countries have blamed each other for the fresh fighting, which saw Thailand launch air strikes and use tanks against its neighbor on Monday.
Evacuees at a shelter in Thailand’s Surin province told AFP they were less concerned about who leads the new government than about who would improve their lives along the border.
“I just care that the leader, whoever that is, is someone who helps ordinary farmers like us,” said 68-year-old Somrak Suebsoontorn.
‘Power to the people’
Under Thai law, elections must be held between 45 and 60 days after parliament is dissolved, meaning polls are expected around the end of January or early February.
Anutin said in a Facebook post late Thursday he “would like to return power to the people”, a signal in the kingdom that a prime minister intends to dissolve parliament.
His coalition backer, the People’s Party, said Thursday it would submit a motion of no-confidence in Anutin, claiming Bhumjaithai broke its agreement during a crucial vote on constitutional amendments.
“They said they wouldn’t support me anymore. They asked me to dissolve the house. I just followed their request,” Anutin told reporters Friday outside the Government House.
The cannabis-championing conservative took power in September with coalition backing conditional on dissolving parliament, becoming the kingdom’s third leader in two years.
He was once an ally of the influential political clan of Thaksin Shinawatra -- who have been a dominant force in Thai politics since the turn of the century, but are increasingly faltering after a succession of legal and political setbacks.
Anutin abandoned his coalition with their Pheu Thai Party this summer in apparent outrage over former Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s conduct during the border row with Cambodia.
During his three months in office, Anutin has had to deal with the escalating military conflict, as well as attacks on scam hubs in Myanmar driving hundreds across the border into Thailand, and the death of the former queen Sirikit in October.
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