Deputy Attorney General Khemchai Chutiwong was promoted to take the top post with a vote of 198. Five members abstained.

Khemchai graduated in law from Chulalongkorn University before receiving Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Harvard University.

He recently made comments on the highly controversial new draft bill on court procedures against political office holders, suggesting that it would be applied retroactively at an early stage to existing criminal cases, but exempted from penalties with retrospective effect.

The issue was later widely discussed, including public discussion about the law’s impacts on high profile cases including those of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.