Princess Ubolratana’s nomination was welcomed by parties aligned with the Thai Raksa Chat and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who saw her as a foil to the military-backed parties seeking to nominate current despot, junta-chief and prime minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha. Under the military-drafted constitution, the junta gets to appoint all 250 members of the upper house of parliament. This means that the military only have to win a fraction of the seats in next month’s lower house elections to ensure its choice of prime minister. While the senate is allowed to vote for the prime minister, the lower house will be responsible for most matters of governance. ADVERTISEMENTThe lower house will likely be hostile to his intentions and wary of his scheming.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 11, 2019 12:21 UTC