The Leader of the Opposition ( th, ผู้นำฝ่ายค้านในสภาผู้แทนราษฎร; ) is the politician in the

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

who leads the main minority party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. The

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

is the leader of the largest

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the

that is not in

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

. Following the Westminster style parliamentary system, Thailand has had an official Leader of the Opposition since 1975. Under the 2007 Constitution the

was given an official role within the Thai political system. The constitution stipulates that the Leader of the Opposition must be selected after the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

has taken office. To be nominated as candidate one must be the leader of the largest

with no member holding any ministerial positions and if his or her party holds more or one-fifth (96 seats) of the seats in the House (480 seats). If no candidate meets this qualification then a leader of a minority party with the largest number of votes from parties with no members holding ministerial positions will be selected. The appointment will then be formalized by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

. The Leader of the Opposition also has other roles apart from leading the Shadow Cabinet, he is also an

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

member of several selection committees for: Constitutional Court Judges, Election Commissioners, Ombudsmen and commissioners of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and members of the

State Audit Commission State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

List of Opposition leaders

References

{{Reflist

External links

สภาผู้แทนราษฎร :: ทำเนียบผู้นำฝ่ายค้าน
Government of Thailand Political history of Thailand Lists of Thai politicians

List of Opposition leaders

See also

References

External links