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Thailand’s self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is planning to return to the country on Tuesday, August 22, according to his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Thaksin had previously postponed his return, originally scheduled for August 10, due to the need for a medical checkup.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon who served as prime minister from 2001 until his ousting in a 2006 coup, has been living in self-imposed exile since fleeing Thailand in 2008 to avoid a jail sentence for graft. However, if he were to return, he would still be subject to imprisonment.

In addition to Thaksin’s planned return, there is also a parliamentary vote scheduled for the same day to nominate the prime minister. The vote is to be conducted by the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai Party, the second-placed party in the May national election. Pheu Thai took over the efforts to form a government after the leader of the election-winning Move Forward party failed in his bid to become prime minister.

Pheu Thai is expected to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as the prime minister candidate. However, in order to secure the position, Pheu Thai will need the support of more than half of the bicameral legislature, including the military-appointed Senate.

The return of Thaksin Shinawatra and the outcome of the parliamentary vote on the prime minister nomination are significant developments in the prolonged political uncertainty that Thailand has been facing since the recent election.

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