THAI property tycoon Srettha Thavisin quit as the chief executive and president of major Thai real estate developer Sansiri, amid speculation that he will officially be named a prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Pheu Thai Party. 

His resignation, also as a director and member of various sub-committees, took effect Monday, the developer said in an exchange filing on Tuesday (Apr 4). Apichart Chutrakul, Sansiri’s chairman, will be acting CEO and president until a replacement is found, the filing said. 

Srettha’s move to sever ties with the luxury property developer came ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the Pheu Thai board 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 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 is shaping up to be a battle 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. Under this, 400 seats will be up for grabs in a nation-wide, first-past-the-post race; 100 seats will be allotted based on the proportion of votes that each party receives. 

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Shares of Sansiri rose as much as 2.3 per cent on Tuesday; they have been little changed this year. BLOOMBERG