Thai Premier Says Economy No. 1 Priority

Lawmakers formally elected telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra as Thailand’s new prime minister after his party swept last month’s general elections.

Thaksin, who won the vote in the lower house of parliament by a 340-127 margin, pledged to make tackling the country’s economic problems his top priority.

Thaksin and 29 other lawmakers abstained in the vote in the 500-seat legislature. The house speaker and two deputy speakers traditionally do not vote. The legislative endorsement was seen as a formality.

“The real hard work will begin tomorrow. We have to work hard, work fast and work smart,” Thaksin, 51, said.

Although Thaksin’s Thais Love Thais party won a landslide victory in the Jan. 6 elections, his own political future remains in jeopardy over corruption charges.

He could be kicked out of office if the 15-judge Constitutional Court upholds an indictment by the national Counter Corruption Commission, which found him guilty of breaking the law by failing to declare all his assets while serving in a previous government.