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Thai politician (born 1936)
Chavarat Charnvirakul
(
Thai
:
??????? ?????????
,
RTGS
:
Chawarat Chanwirakun
,
Thai pronunciation:
[t???a.wa.rat
t???aːn.wiː.ra.kun]
; born 7 June 1936) is a Thai politician. He had served as an
acting prime minister of Thailand
as a result of the
2008 Thai political crisis
. His family is of
Thai Chinese
descent with ancestry from
Guangdong
.
[1]
Education
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]
Chavarat graduated from
Thammasat University
in 1966 with a degree in
economics
.
[2]
Political career
[
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]
After spending many years in the public sector, he joined the government in 1994 as
Deputy Minister of Finance
, his tenure lasted till 1997. In 2008 he rejoined the government as
Minister of Public Health
and later
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand
.
[2]
On 2 December 2008, the
Constitutional Court
ordered the dissolution of the
People's Power Party
and other coalition parties, at the same time banning their chief executives. The incumbent Prime Minister,
Somchai Wongsawat
, was then removed along with several other members of the
Cabinet
. Chavarat, however, was the only senior Cabinet figure who was not a party executive and was therefore the only viable candidate. Either the
House of Representatives of Thailand
had to confirm him as the new Prime Minister, or the new political grouping must vote for a new leader and submit his name for approval.
[3]
There has been some questions - even a letter submitted to the
Constitutional Court
by
Senators
- concerning the legality of his temporary appointment as Prime Minister (even in a caretaker capacity). This is because the
2007 Constitution of Thailand
states that the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Representatives; Chavarat was not an MP.
[4]
Chavarat was replaced by
Abhisit Vejjajiva
on 15 December 2008. He was appointed
Minister of Interior of Thailand
in the
Abhisit cabinet
, a post which he held until the government's
electoral defeat
in 2011. On 14 February 2009, Chavarat became the leader of the
Bhumjai Thai Party
until 4 September 2012, in which he was succeeded by his son,
Anutin Charnvirakul
.
Royal decorations
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]
References
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]