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BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's parliament elected pugnacious right-winger Samak Sundaravej prime minister on Monday as the country returns to representative, civilian government after a bloodless September 2006 coup.
The 72-year-old former Bangkok governor has vowed to push for the return from exile of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, putting him on a collision course with the army and royalist elite accused of masterminding the coup.
Samak, who is leading a six party coalition after his People Power Party (PPP) narrowly missed an outright majority on its own, won approval from 310 of the 480 members of parliament.
There was no reaction on the stock and currency markets, where Samak's appointment had been widely expected since the PPP won 233 seats in the December 23 election that marked the end of the army-appointed interim government.
"Undertaking the premiership is an entrusted job and responsibility that I volunteer to do," he told reporters after the vote.
His appointment becomes formal after its endorsement by revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, expected in the next few days.
Although most Thais are keen to see civilian rule after the incompetence of the post-coup government, fewer than half of the country's 65 million people are happy with Samak in the top job, according to the latest opinion polls.
One assessment by Bangkok's Assumption University showed support for Samak at only 44.3 percent nationwide. His popularity in the capital is likely to be far lower after a less-than-glorious four years as governor.
He is also loathed by the domestic media, although his bulbous nose is a gift to political cartoonists, who typically depict him as a foul-mouthed pig feeding at a trough.
Democracy campaigners also regard him with distrust, remembering his vitriolic radio campaign against student activists in the mid-1970s and support for a bloody crackdown in October 1976 that led to a coup.
He served briefly as interior minister in the military-appointed government.
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