Thailand's monarch, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, has sworn in Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his 11-party coalition government Tuesday (September 5) almost four months after the country held its general election. The 61-year-old real estate tycoon would also hold his cabinet's finance portfolio, the Associated Press reported.
Wearing white civil service uniforms, Srettha and his cabinet later on posed for a group photograph in front of Bangkok's Government House.
In a brief news conference after being sworn in, he told reporters his government is determined to do its best to represent the Thai people and address multiple issues the country is facing after almost a decade of military and military-backed rule.
"This government is a people's government...we are all here as representatives of the people," Srettha said. "I believe it is time that we should pull together and give this Cabinet a chance to start working on all issues, whether it is economics, social (or) political."
Delay Caused by Parliament's Rejection of Pita as PM
Aside from forming a coalition government, the delay in doing so was caused by the Thai Parliament's failure to endorse a coalition formed by the Move Forward Party, which won the most seats. In addition, Move Forward's progressive stance was considered a threat to the whole Thai establishment for its campaign promise of reviewing the country's strict royal defamation laws.
As a result, Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat was not given the royal assent, and Pheu Thai, Srettha's party that had an anti-junta stance prior to the election, had to step in and set aside its anti-military stance by retaining some pro-military ministers into the coalition government to end the deadlock.
At the same time as Srettha's designation as prime minister, former prime minister and Pheu Thai party leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand only to be imprisoned for eight years on charges he was convicted within absentia.
The king has since reduced the sentence to a single year due to health reasons.
Srettha Urges Cabinet to 'Go for Broke'
Prior to being sworn in as the new democratically-elected government, Srettha urged his Pheu Thai ministers to "go for broke" and "achieve some quick wins" to win the favor of the people.
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai said the 10 other parties in its coalition, of which six have ministers represented in Srettha's cabinet, have supported its platform of boosting the economy, including by increasing the minimum wage, among other measures. They would also support keeping medical marijuana legal as well as amending the constitution to help the country become more democratic.
However, the party said there are no plans to amend the law against royal defamation, a reform strongly rejected by the country's conservative ruling elite.
