JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Wed, August 16, 2023
Srettha Thavisin, a real estate tycoon and advisor to the opposition Pheu Thai party, arrives at Pheu Thai Party headquater in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 17, 2023. The Pheu Thai party has since cobbled up a coalition consisting of nine parties which together holds 238 seats in the lower house, still short from the majority it needs. Pheu Thai has said it will nominate estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin, as prime minister.
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court cleared the way Wednesday for Parliament to vote for a new prime minister more than three months after national elections by declining to rule on a complaint over the rejection of the winning party's leader.
The court had been asked to decide whether Parliament had violated the constitution by refusing to allow the leader of the progressive Move Forward Party to be nominated for a second time as a prime ministerial candidate.
Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat had assembled an eight-party coalition with a majority in Parliament's lower house. But under the military-implemented constitution, a new prime minister must receive a majority of votes from both the elected House and the conservative appointed Senate, which was chosen by an earlier military government.
Pita lost a first vote in Parliament for prime minister last month, with many senators voting against him because of his party’s call for reform of a law that makes it illegal to defame Thailand’s royal family. Critics say the law, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, has been abused as a political weapon. Members of the Senate, like the army, see themselves as guardians of traditional conservative royalist values.
The combined Parliament then refused to allow Pita to be renominated for a second vote.
Several lawmakers from Pita's party and private citizens submitted a complaint to the state ombudsman charging that the action violated the constitution. The ombudsman relayed the complaint to the Constitutional Court, which dismissed the case on Wednesday on the grounds that the complainants had not been directly affected by Parliament’s decision and therefore were not entitled to submit the case before the court.
While the court’s decision suggested that Pita himself could file a petition seeking a ruling on the matter, Move Forward spokesperson Rangsiman Rome said Pita would not do so. He said Move Forward continues to strongly believe that Parliament can renominate a prime ministerial candidate, but that the issue should be resolved through parliamentary procedures, not the court.
After its two failed attempts, Move Forward stepped aside to allow its biggest partner in the eight-party coalition, the Pheu Thai party, to attempt to form a new government.
Pheu Thai, which finished second in the May polls, then excluded Move Forward from the coalition, saying its call to reform the royal defamation law made it impossible to gather enough support from other parties and the Senate to approve a new prime minister.
Pheu Thai has since cobbled together a coalition of nine parties with 238 seats in the 500-member lower house, still short of the majority it needs. It plans to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister.
Move Forward said Tuesday that its elected House members will not vote for a candidate from the Pheu Thai-led coalition. It said the coalition, which includes parties from the outgoing military-backed administration, had violated popular demand for political reform "that was clearly expressed through the election results.”
The results of May’s general election were a strong repudiation of the country’s conservative elites and reflected the disenchantment in particular of young voters who want to limit the political influence of the military, which has staged more than a dozen coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
Move Forward's stunning victory came after nearly a decade of military-controlled rule led by Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as army chief ousted a Pheu Thai-led government in a 2014 coup and returned as prime minister after 2019 elections.
Many believe that the current Pheu Thai-led coalition needs to include at least one of the two military-backed parties that were soundly rejected in the polls to achieve a House majority. Pheu Thai has not ruled out that possibility.
Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of parties affiliated with ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire populist who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin has said he plans to return to Thailand soon following years of self-imposed exile to escape a prison term in several criminal cases which he has decried as politically motivated.
Following the court’s decision, House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to set the next voting for prime minister on Tuesday and will meet with parliamentary leaders on Thursday to discuss the matter.
By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's election-winning Move Forward Party declined on Tuesday to back former alliance partner Pheu Thai's bid to form the next government, calling it a distortion of the election outcome and against the will of the public.
The progressive Move Forward was the surprise winner of the May 14 election, closely followed by Pheu Thai, after the two trounced conservative parties in a resounding rejection of nine years of government led or backed by the military.
An alliance between them collapsed after a bicameral parliament over which the royalist military commands significant influence rejected Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat's prime ministerial bid twice last month.
Thailand has been under a caretaker government for five months and Move Forward's refusal to back Pheu Thai could prolong months of political uncertainty exacerbated by the parliamentary deadlock.
"The formation of government now is not reflective of the people's voice ... and distorts the will of the people in the elections," Move Forward secretary general Chaithawat Tulathon told a news conference.
Political veteran Pheu Thai has been accused by critics of outmanoeuvring Move Forward to ensure it leads the government.
Pheu Thai insists it only withdrew its support when it was clear that Move Forward could not win the backing of the legislature, where it encountered resistance to its liberal, anti-establishment agenda.
Despite Pheu Thai's bitter history with the military, it has been lobbying hard for the support of parties and senators allied with generals involved in 2006 and 2014 coups against its governments.
"We do not want to have any part in the formation of government under these conditions," Move Forward's Chaithawat said.
Pheu Thai will nominate for prime minister Srettha Thavisin, a former real estate mogul with no political experience up until the election. To succeed, Srettha needs support from more than half of the joint lower and upper houses, an outcome far from certain.
Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew said he expected a prime ministerial vote between Aug. 18 and Aug. 22 and he was confident Srettha could still prevail without Move Forward's support.
"We respect Move Forward's decision and we are able to work with all parties," he said.
(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty)
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