Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Pheu Thai party on August 15 nominated Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a daughter of ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and currently the party's leader, as its candidate for prime minister.
Previously, the party's lawmakers voted in the morning to nominate Paetongtarn instead of Chaikasem Nitisiri, another candidate of the party.
Before the Pheu Thai party's Executive Committee voted to endorse Paetongtarn as its candidate for prime minister, two key partners in the ruling coalition, the Bhumjaithai Party and the United Thai National Party (UTN), pledged their support to the Pheu Thai-led coalition.
The leaders of the two parties said they will vote for the Pheu Thai candidate on August 16, as long as the candidate does not support amending Article 112 of the Penal Code (also known as the lese majeste law).
Under Thailand's electoral law, a candidate for prime minister must win the support of more than half of the 493-member House of Representatives, or 247 votes or more. The 11-party ruling coalition led by Pheu Thai currently holds 314 seats in the House./.
