Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has moved to dissolve parliament, setting the stage for an early election after reports of a key political party backing his minority government moving to withdraw its support.
Anutin said in a social media post on Thursday that he was taking steps to “return power to the people”.
The premier has already submitted a recommendation for the dissolution of the House of Representatives for royal endorsement, according to several Thai media outlets.
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The move to dissolve parliament came after the People’s Party, which had extended conditional support to Anutin’s government, planned to move a motion of no confidence against him on Friday, according to reports.
Under Thai rules, an election must be held between 45 and 60 days of the house dissolution, meaning voters in the Southeast Asian nation will be headed to polling stations as early as the end of January.
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Hundreds of thousands displaced as fighting rages along Thai-Cambodian border
Hundreds of thousands displaced as fighting rages along Thai-Cambodian border
The hasty call for a new election comes amid a raging border conflict with Cambodia that has seen almost a dozen Thai soldiers killed and an estimated 400,000 civilians displaced from the border areas.