Pheu Thai party leader Chonlanan Srikaew will nominate Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat as candidate for prime minister at the joint meeting of the House and Senate to select the prime minister on Thursday.
Chonlanan said that the eight coalition parties, led by Move Forward, met today (Tuesday) and agreed to designate the Pheu Thai party to represent the group in nominating Pita.
After the nomination, he said that the floor will be open to MPs and senators to question Pita, if they have any doubts about him or the party’s campaign manifesto.
Chonlanan admitted that he has no idea how many senators will vote for Pita, adding that he was told by Chaithawat Tulathon, Move Forward’s secretary-general, that the party has been trying its best to convince as many senators as possible to vote for him.
The eight coalition parties command a total of 312 votes in the House. House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, by tradition, has to abstain, meaning that the coalition parties are left with 311 votes. Therefore, they need at least 65 votes from senators and/or non-coalition MPs to reach at least 376 votes, or half of the 750 members of the two Houses, for the approval of Pita’s candidacy.
The Pheu Thai party said that, at this stage, the eight coalition parties have no Plan B, in case Pita fails to get the 376 votes in the first joint sitting this Thursday.
There are, however, no limits on how many times parliament can meet to select the prime minister, but the longer it takes, the longer the formation of the new government will take, which will prolong political uncertainty and affect public, investor and foreign confidence in the country.
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