By Prensa Latina,
Bangkok : Thailand’s Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected Monday Prime Minister for the Parliament, in a bid to curb the political crisis gripping this South Asian nation.
Vejjajiva, 44, got 235 votes against 198 for his opponent Pracha Promnog, Parliament President Chai Chidchob told media groups, while three deputies abstained.
That vote was preceded by six months of instability due to anti-government demonstrations that ended in November with the occupation of Bangkok’s two important airports last week.
The election also took place after the dissolution of the government alliance decided December 2 by the Constitutional Court, which accused the three governing parties of electoral fraud and disqualified Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat for five years.
Vejjajiva is the third chief of government appointed this year in Thailand since Samak Sundaravej assumed in February 2008 after the legislative elections last year that concluded 15 months of military administration.
In statements to press, the new prime minister, born in Great Britain and educated at Oxford University, was grateful to Chamber members who voted for him, and stated that as the monarchy’s approval is necessary, he won’t express his political position now.
More than 200 protesters blocked the access to the Parliament and threw stones to some cars of deputies after the election as prime minister of the opposition’s leader.