Srettha Thavisin elected Thailand PM as Thaksin returns from exile | News

The real estate mogul won the backing of both the upper and lower houses to become the country’s 30th prime minister.

Srettha Thavisin of the populist Pheu Thai party has won the backing of parliament to become Thailand’s next prime minister, paving the way to a new coalition government and an end to weeks of uncertainty and political impasse.

Property tycoon Srettha ‘s victory, with 482 votes out of 727 politicians present on Tuesday, ends months of suspense, legal wrangling and horse-trading that followed the May elections.

The progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most votes in the national election, was blocked from taking power by conservative senators.

The vote came hours after the Pheu Thai party’s billionaire figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra made an historic homecoming after years as a fugitive in self-imposed exile.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from…