Daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin will be nominated as new leader in parliamentary vote

BANGKOK (AP) — Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will be nominated as the country’s new prime minister in a parliamentary vote, her party and its coalition partners said Thursday.

The move follows the removal of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin by court order over an ethical violation a day earlier.

Leaders of the 11 party-coalition led by Paetongtarn’s populist Pheu Thai party declared their support for her at a news conference on Thursday after the party’s secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong announced her candidacy.

Paetongtarn thanked her party and the coalition partners for their support, adding she is ready to move the country forward.

“I have confidence in Pheu Thai. I have confidence in all government coalition parties to bring our country out of the economic crisis,” she said. Pheu Thai had campaigned heavily on improving Thailand's sluggish economy.

If Paetongtarn is approved in Parliament’s vote, which is scheduled for Friday, she will become Thailand’s second female prime minister and the country’s third leader from the Shinawatra family, after her father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra. Thaksin was the first Thai politician ever to win an overall majority of seats. His residual popularity and influence is a factor behind the political support for Paetongtarn.

Srettha was ousted on Wednesday after less than a year in office. The Constitutional Court found him guilty of a serious ethical breach over his appointment of a Cabinet member who was jailed in connection with an alleged bribery attempt.

Paetongtarn said she respects Srettha and thinks what happened to him was unfortunate, but added: “The country must move on.”

It was the second major ruling in a week to shake Thai politics. The same court last week dissolved the progressive and main opposition Move Forward party, which won last year’s general election but was blocked from power, saying it violated the constitution by proposing an amendment to a law against defaming the country’s royal family. The party has already regrouped as the People’s Party.

Pheu Thai finished second in last year's election but was given a chance to form a government after the winners, the reformist Move Forward party, was blocked from taking power by the previous Senate, a military-appointed body.

Move Forward was then excluded from the coalition by Pheu Thai, which went on to join hands with parties affiliated with the previous military-backed government that ousted it in a coup. The move drew criticism from some of its supporters but party officials say it was necessary to break the deadlock and start reconciliation after decades of deep political divisions.

The former senators were given special power to veto a prime ministerial candidate by the constitution adopted in 2017 under a military government. However, that power expired when their term ended in May. New members of the Senate, selected in a convoluted process last month, do not retain the veto.

A candidate now needs just a majority from the lower house, or at least 247 votes. The House of Representatives now has 493 sitting members after six were banned from politics as a result of Move Forward's dissolution. Another lawmaker in the Bhumjaithai party, which finished third in the election and is Pheu Thai's major partner in the coalition, is suspended awaiting a court ruling.

While Pheu Thai’s coalition endorsed Paetongtarn's candidacy, some of its key partners have reiterated that they would not support a proposal to amend the royal defamation law which became a key issue during last year’s election. Pheu Thai discussed the issue during the election campaign but has spoken about it less since taking power.

The law, also known as Article 112 in Thailand’s criminal codes, protects the monarchy from criticism with penalties of up to 15 years in jail per offense. Critics say the law is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent.

The People's Party, the new home for lawmakers of the dissolved Move Forward party, said Thursday it will not vote to approve a candidate from Pheu Thai on Friday. Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said the party will continue its duty as an opposition.

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, smiles during press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, third form left, and coalition partners shake hand during press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, third form left, and coalition partners smiles during press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, eight form left, and coalition partners shake hand during press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, center and coalition partners gesture during press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, right, and coalition partners guture during press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, wave before press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, smiles before press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, right, and coalition partners arrive for a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, right, and coalition partners smile during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, talks to reporters during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

FILE - Leader of Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, reacts after her speech at the party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Members of Pheu Thai party hold a meeting at Parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Members of Pheu Thai party meet at Parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea blew up the northern parts of inter-Korean roads no longer in use on Tuesday, South Korea said, after the rivals exchanged threats of destruction amid rising animosities over North Korea’s claim that South Korea flew drones over its capital.

The roads’ demolition is a display of North Korea’s growing loathing of South Korea’s conservative government, as its leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of achieving peaceful Korean unification.

Observers say it’s still unlikely for Kim to launch preemptive, large-scale attacks on South Korea, because that would certainly invite massive retaliation by the more superior South Korea-U.S. force that will pose a threat to his survival.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said South Korea's military fired within southern sections of the border in response to the explosions. Its statement did not give details on the firing. It could have been an attempt to avert cross-border fire by North Korea. It wasn't immediately known whether North Korea has made any response.

South Korea’s military said it is bolstering its readiness and surveillance posture in coordination with the United States.

Video provided by South Korea’s military showed a cloud of white and gray smoke emerging from the explosion at a road near the border town of Kaesong and North Korea sending trucks and excavators to clear out the debris. Another video showed smoke emerging from a coastal road near the Korea’s eastern border.

North Korea has a history of staging choreographed events to destroy facilities on its soil as a political message.

In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty, South Korean-built liaison office building just north of the border in retaliation for South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2018, North Korea demolished tunnels at its nuclear testing site at the start of nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. In 2008, North Korea blew up a cooling tower at its main nuclear complex when earlier disarmament-for-aid negotiations with the U.S. and others were alive.

Destroying the roads would be in line with leader Kim Jong Un’s order in January to eliminate the goal of a peaceful Korean unification, formally designate South Korea as the country’s “invariable principal enemy” and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere. Kim’s order stunned many outside North Korea watchers because it seemed to break from his predecessors’ long-cherished dreams of unifying the Korean Peninsula on the North’s terms.

Experts say Kim likely aims to diminish South Korea’s voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct dealings with the U.S. They say Kim also likely hopes to diminish South Korean cultural influence and bolster his rule at home.

North Korea has accused South Korea of infiltrating drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month and threatened to respond with force if it happened again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned North Korea would face the end of its regime if the safety of South Korean citizens is threatened.

North Korea put frontline artillery and other army units on standby to launch strikes on South Korea, if drones from South Korea are found over North Korea again. The North Korean Defense Ministry said that the entire South Korean territory “might turn into piles of ashes” following the North’s powerful attack.

North Korea's state media reported earlier Tuesday that Kim Jong Un called a meeting with his top military and security officials the previous day. During the meeting, Kim described the alleged South Korean drone flights as the “enemy’s serious provocation” and laid out unspecified tasks related to “immediate military action” and the operation of his “war deterrent” for defending the country’s sovereignty, the North's Korean Central News Agency said.

During the previous era of inter-Korean detente in the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected two road routes and two rail tracks across their heavily fortified border. But their operations later were suspended one by one as the Koreas wrangled over North Korea’s nuclear program and other issues.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures to cope with “confrontational hysteria” by South Korean and U.S. forces. South Korean officials said North Korea had already been adding anti-tank barriers and laying mines along the border since earlier this year. They said North Korea has also planted mines and removed lamps along its sections of the inter-Korean roads and taken out ties on the northern side of the railways.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have sharply increased in recent years, with North Korea performing a run of provocative missile tests and South Korea and the U.S. expanding their military drills

Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

A TV screen reports North Korea has blown up parts of northern side of inter-Korean roads during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. The sign on the screen reads, "North-South Gyeongui and Donghae roads line connection section." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen reports North Korea has blown up parts of northern side of inter-Korean roads during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. The sign on the screen reads, "North-South Gyeongui and Donghae roads line connection section." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen reports North Korea has blown up parts of northern side of inter-Korean roads during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. The sign on the screen reads, "North-South Gyeongui and Donghae roads line connection section." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen reports North Korea has blown up parts of northern side of inter-Korean roads during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean visitors look at a map which shows a border area of two Koreas with a railroad line between Munsan city in south and Kaesong in north, at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Barricades are placed near the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A North Korean soldier stands guard at the North's military guard post as a North Korean flag flutters in the wind, as seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)