Parliament suspends Pita Limjaroenrat and (for now) will not be prime minister

During today’s second consultation, the progressive leader -for the second time- did not reach a majority of votes. He now has 15 days to convince the Constitutional Court to change his decision and be reinstated as a deputy. However, the main problem remains the strong opposition to the government program proposed by the Move Forward party.

Bangkok () – On the day that could have awarded him the post of prime minister, the Thai majority candidate Pita Limjaroenrat suffered a second defeat, after the disappointment of the first ballot last week.

The first setback was at the start of the joint parliamentary session between the House and the Senate, with the announcement by the Constitutional Court that it had accepted the request to suspend the leader of the progressive Move Forward party from his parliamentary position. The petition was presented a week ago by the Electoral Commission for alleged irregularities during the electoral campaign, since Pita would own shares in media companies. The fact, significant, arises along with other cases of elected parliamentarians who are not complying with the law. However, it is a decision that by itself would not have prevented the appointment of Pita as head of the next executive.

But the second setback came: after a debate that lasted more than eight hours, Parliament rejected the possibility of a second candidacy for Pita Limjaroenrat, with 312 votes in favor and 395 against. A defeat that opened the door to consultations (and friction) between the Move Forward Party, which emerged as the first party in the general elections on May 14, and its main ally, Pheu Thai, which finished second in the vote.

Another possible scenario is to propose a different candidate in which the majority and opposition forces can converge, represented by the conservative and pro-military parties, who came out losers at the polls.

Today’s vote and the legitimacy of a second candidacy was justified by the interpretation of article 49 of the parliamentary regulation that would prohibit resubmitting a motion that was already rejected in the same legislature (however, the debate that preceded the vote revealed doubts about). The explanation was rejected by the majority because it would be motions of a general nature that would not affect the appointment of the prime minister.

A result that Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, had already taken into account, who believes that they are trying to block his race for the position of prime minister. As soon as the result of the vote was announced, the progressive leader left the room. He will now have 15 days to present evidence to refute the suspension decided by the Constitutional Court. It is possible that he will be able to rejoin the House of Representatives (made up of 500 members, elected in May this year), while the Senate (250 members) is appointed by the military.

Today’s situation opens the way for new maneuvers to reach an agreement between the majority and the opposition, excluding from the government program some of the points proposed by Pita -despite the fact that they were voted for by the majority of the voters. The most controversial and underestimated by the traditional elites refers to the modification of the lèse majesté law, which provides for up to 15 years in prison. Until now, the legislation was frequently used to target political opponents.