BANGKOK – Thailand’s Pita Limjaroenrat’s political future is on the line today as he will face a second round of voting in Parliament to determine whether he will become the next prime minister.
Besides that, the Constitutional Court will also meet today to consider whether to accept a petition from the Election Commission (EC) alleging that Pita was ineligible to run for office because he held shares in a media company when he registered his candidacy in the May 14 general election.
The 42-year-old Move Forward Party (MFP) leader faces possible suspension or even disqualification as MP after the EC decided to refer the media shareholding case to the Constitutional Court.
As the Parliament reconvenes today, Pita is expected to be renominated for the position after he failed to muster the backing of more than half of the 749-member bicameral Parliament in his first attempt last Thursday.
However, Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said the parliamentarians will debate whether Pita can be renominated for the premiership tomorrow before reaching a conclusion.
He said some parliamentarians do not support Pita’s renomination as prime minister because he was rejected last week.
“Some argue that a rejected motion cannot be resubmitted in the same parliamentary session. Others believe that the prime ministerial selection is not a general motion but a process to nominate a prime minister, and therefore, Pita is eligible to be renominated,” he added.
In the May 14 general election, MFP which won 151 seats and garnered more than 14.2 million votes, is leading a coalition of eight parties that secured 312 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives. Pheu Thai won 141 seats and is the second-largest party in the coalition.
Despite being the sole prime ministerial nominee, Pita only received 324 votes, while 182 votes were against him and 199 abstained last Wednesday.
There were only 705 members present for the sitting. Only 13 of the 249 senators (one resigned on Wednesday) backed Pita with the rest voting against him or abstaining. Meanwhile,
Pita has received the backing of his coalition to be renominated in the second round of voting. However, this could be his last attempt to win the top job as Pita will give way to Pheu Thai Party if he failed again to garner the required support.
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party will nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as the prime ministerial candidate if Pita fails to win the required backing of more than half of the legislature.
Senior party adviser of Pheu Thai, Paetongtarn Shinawatra said that the party would fully support Pita, who plans to contest his second parliamentary vote on the premiership tomorrow.
“We will only nominate Srettha if the parliament rejects Pita (in the second parliamentary vote),” she said at a press conference here today.
Paetongtarn said Srettha, one of the Pheu Thai Party’s prime ministerial candidates, is well-positioned to take on the top job due to his background in business and economics.
Paetongtarn, who is the daughter of former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra is also one of the party’s prime ministerial candidates. – Bernama, July 19, 2023
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