Thai Property Tycoon Quits CEO Job Amid Premiership Speculation

(Bloomberg) -- Thai property tycoon Srettha Thavisin quit as the chief executive and president of Sansiri Pcl amid speculation that he will officially be named a prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Pheu Thai Party.

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Srettha’s resignation, also as a director and member of various sub-committees, took effect Monday, the real estate developer said in an exchange filing Tuesday. Apichart Chutrakul, Sansiri’s chairman, will be the acting CEO and president until a replacement is found, according to the filing.

Srettha’s move to completely severe ties with the luxury property developer, came ahead of a meeting of Pheu Thai board on Tuesday to pick its three prime ministerial nominees. Srettha, who last month took a sabbatical to focus on his new role as chief adviser to Pheu Thai Party’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra, youngest daughter of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, had also sold his stake in the company.

Pheu Thai is set to unveil its three PM candidates at an event in Bangkok on Wednesday as Thai election rules allow each party to nominate up to three people to be considered for the job. The party is leading in pre-poll opinion surveys in what’s shaping up to be a battle between between a Pheu Thai-led pro-democracy group and pro-establishment parties.

The Thaksin-linked party is aiming to win more than 300 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives to negate the Senate’s role in selecting the prime minister after the May 14 election.

More than 52 million voters will elect lower house members in a return to the two-ballot system that will see 400 seats up for grab in a nationwide first-past-the-post race and 100 being alloted based on the proportion of votes that each party receives.

Shares of Sansiri rose as much as 2.3% on Tuesday and are little changed this year.

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