Only 13 of the senators (appointed by the military) voted to have confidence in the candidate for Prime Minister of Thailand, who was victorious in the elections. Next week there will be a new vote. The Move Forward leader confirmed his challenge to the role of the military and the monarchy in the country, a position for which his party has been at risk of being dissolved since yesterday, after it appeared against him appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Bangkok () – He failed to overcome the wall of abstentions from his adversaries and the opposition of an entire Senate appointed by the military. With 324 preferences, Pita Limjaroenrat, the only candidate for prime minister, proposed by the majority of the Bangkok House of Representatives as an expression of the parties that won the general elections on May 14, did not reach the necessary threshold of 376 votes, the half plus one of the sum of the 500 deputies and 250 senators. The 311 deputies of the coalition formed by the Move Forward party and the Pheu Thai of the Shinawatra family, along with six other former opposition parties, voted in favor of him; but only 13 senators accompanied them, too few to obtain a majority.
The electoral law and the current composition of the Chambers are included in the Constitution drafted by the military for the 2019 elections, with which they formally restored the democratic game after having directly led the country since the May 2014 coup, while that guaranteed de facto control of Parliament, applied censorship and pressure on opponents and used the lèse majesté law and its harsh penalties as a repressive tool against opponents.
However, this was not enough to prevent parties opposed to military power from gaining control of the House of Representatives, electing against the Senate appointed by the Armed Forces, and eventually getting the next government.
Significantly, yesterday the Electoral Commission had presented a petition to the Constitutional Court requesting the disqualification of Pita as deputy for alleged electoral irregularities, and another petition had reached the Court from an opponent of the Democratic Coalition requesting the dissolution of Move Forward, the party who leads Pita. In the latter case, because in the electoral program it stated – and this was confirmed this morning by the young political leader in his statement before the vote – ending the role of the military in controlling the country and reviewing the role of the monarchy.
Undoubtedly, the defeat of Pita is a blow to the hope of establishing a representative democracy in Thailand, a country whose instability, gap in opportunities and level of corruption profoundly affect the possibilities and rights of its 70 million people.
The prospects are now broad. A new vote on Pita’s candidacy is likely to be held next week (Parliament reconvened for July 19-20). But it is also possible that the situation will lead the majority to reconsider, to seek new alliances, or that new tensions appear in the country, since it is unlikely that voters will once again accept that the will they expressed at the polls be annulled. . Earlier today groups of Move Forward supporters gathered in the streets to follow the vote. But not even the strong powers in Bangkok – nor the military who support them and who together gain their legitimacy – will easily relinquish control, prestige and wealth.
