Samak is new Prime Minister

Thailand’s new parliament yesterday elected Samak Sundaravej, the leader of the PPP, as the country’s new Prime Minister. Cabinet appointments are expected to follow once the appointment of the new Prime Minister has been ratified by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Aside from the problems of running a six party coalition government and handling the tricky issue of Thaksin Shinawatra’s potential return to Thailand The Guardian reports that “Samak, a right-winger in several army-backed governments that arrested and killed opponents, is himself fighting a two-year sentence for defamation and is the subject of corruption allegations over the purchase of fire trucks while he was Bangkok governor”