Three months after Thailand's latest coup took place, it is finally complete. Yesterday General Prayuth Chan-ocha (pictured) was elected as prime minister by the country's National Legislative Assembly (NLA), a body he stuffed full of military colleagues earlier this month.
The 197 NLA members charged with electing him were all appointed by the junta. There were no other nominations for the top post. Under the interim constitution (the junta tore up the last one, which the military wrote in 2006), politicians from the recent governments are ineligible for NLA seats. As a result, of the body that elected Prayuth, over half were military (70 active, 36 retired).
The appointment of General Prayuth comes a few weeks before his mandatory retirement from the military. Other top brass will also reach mandatory retirement age in September and will likely take up civilian roles.
For all Southeast Asia watchers, the similarities between Thailand's new quasi-civilian government and that in Myanmar are striking.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.