Word: premiership
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After antigovernment protesters invaded the country's parliament and stripped military police of their weapons, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces on Wednesday, April 7. By invoking emergency rule, however, Abhisit has staked his premiership and his political future on cooperation from what may be the most powerful and unpredictable player in Thailand's politics - the military...
...Following Thaksin's ouster, the army clearly has become more involved in politics, despite ceding overt power to elected politicians after little more than a year. It played a key role in Abhisit's rise to the premiership, helping to broker deals among politicians who had been loyal to Thaksin so they would join Abhisit's coalition. The generals also used their troops to break up Red Shirt riots in April 2009 in Bangkok aimed at ousting Abhisit. Among the military's rewards have been large increases in budget allocations under Abhisit's administration and few questions about purchasing irregularities...
...politics in the 1970s, winning a seat in parliament from Bangkok's military-populated Dusit district. He eventually held several Cabinet posts, including deputy premier. Samak's long-stated ambition was to become Prime Minister, but his time at the top was brief. He was disqualified from holding the premiership by the Constitutional Court after just nine months because he had violated the office's prohibition on holding a second job - his popular television cooking show, which he spiced and flavored with pungent political commentary...
Maliki had held protracted negotiations to re-join the INA but wanted his Dawa Party to receive a majority of the block's parliament seats and to be guaranteed a return to the premiership. No deal. So Maliki decided to gamble on his own prowess, forming a new coalition he touts as nationalist (condemning alleged Syrian support for terrorism in Iraq and promoting a strong central government) as well as anti-sectarian (digs at the INA, which is led by clerics with strong ties to neighboring Iran...
...Farage's call - echoing that of many Labour MPs in recent days - surely won't be the last; expect further dissent at a meeting this evening between Brown and Labour MPs. Despite the rumpus, though, there are reasons Brown - only two years into his premiership - could yet cling on. Rebel MPs have so far shown little sign of uniting around a single replacement for Brown. Even if they manage to, choosing a second successive unelected Prime Minister would make an immediate general election almost inevitable. - Adam Smith / London