On the 11th, Thai Prime Minister Anutin submitted a request to the King to dissolve the House of Representatives. In the early hours of the 12th, the Royal Gazette announced the royal decree on its website, declaring that King Vajiralongkorn had approved the dissolution of the House of Representatives in order to hold a new nationwide general election.
According to the decree, the King has approved the dissolution of the House of Representatives, and a general election must be held within 45 to 60 days. The election date will be announced separately by the Election Commission.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Anutin released a statement on social media on the night of the 11th, saying: “I request to return power to the people.” Thai media reported that this statement signified Anutin had applied to King Vajiralongkorn to dissolve the House of Representatives so that elections could be held early.
From the 10th to the 11th, the upper and lower houses of the Thai Parliament met to review and vote on a draft constitutional amendment. The final vote showed that the draft did not pass. According to Thai media, the opposition People's Party immediately decided to gather lawmakers to file a no-confidence motion against the Anutin government.
The Anutin government is a minority in the House of Representatives. He had previously stated that if a no-confidence motion was filed, he would immediately announce the dissolution of the House of Representatives and hold early elections. The dissolution of the House requires final approval from the King.
In June this year, then-Prime Minister Paetongtarn became embroiled in controversy after a recording of a conversation regarding the Thailand-Cambodia border situation between her and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen was leaked. On August 29, the Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled that she had violated the constitution and removed her from office as Prime Minister. Anutin, leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, then garnered majority support in a special session of the House of Representatives to become the new Prime Minister.
Previously, the People's Party, which held the most seats in the House, reached an agreement with the Bhumjaithai Party to support Anutin as the new Prime Minister, on the condition that the new government would promote constitutional amendments and dissolve the House within four months to pave the way for a new election.