Property mogul Srettha Thavisin elected Thai PM; influential ally returns from exile

BANGKOK: Thai property mogul Srettha Thavisin was elected prime minister after a decisive win in a parliamentary vote on Tuesday as his party's fugitive figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra made a historic homecoming after years in exile and was taken straight to jail.

The victory by 60-year-old Srettha paves the way for a new coalition government, ending weeks of uncertainty and stalemate in parliament after an election 100 days ago that threatened to weaken the political clout of the nation's powerful military. Srettha, who was thrust into the spotlight just a few months ago by the populist heavyweight Pheu Thai, won the support from two thirds of parliament in a vote that followed hours of hysteria over the long-awaited return of Thaksin from self-imposed exile.

Thaksin received a rapturous reception after he arrived on his jet at a Bangkok airport early on Tuesday, where he briefly met Pheu Thai lawmakers before being escorted by police to court and then jail to serve a sentence of eight years for abuse of power and conflicts of interest.

Political neophyte Srettha, a former president of luxury property developer, will be tasked with forming and holding together a potentially fragile coalition that includes parties created by the royalist military, which overthrew Pheu Thai governments in 2006 and 2014 coups. Among those ousted was Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon and owner of Premier League football club Manchester City, who was accused by the army of corruption, cronyism and disloyalty to the monarchy.

He fled abroad and was sentenced to jail in absentia in 2008 and sister Yingluck Shinawatra suffered an almost identical fate as PM a few years later.

The return of Thailand's most famous politician and Srettha's surprisingly smooth ascent to the top job will add to speculation that the influential Thaksin had struck a deal withthe military and the establishment for an early release from jail. Thaksin and Pheu Thai have rejected that. Tuesday's events were the latest twist in a nearly two-decade power struggle among royalists, generals and old money families that have long wielded influence over politics and the economy.