Veteran politician Viroj, 89, to chair House meeting as MPs elect new speaker

According to House meeting regulations issued in 2019, the House secretary-general will invite the eldest MP to chair the meeting when elected lawmakers vote for the next House speaker and deputies.

However, if the eldest MP is contesting for any of the posts, then the meeting will be chaired by the next eldest MP.

Viroj, who is Pheu Thai’s No 1 party-list candidate, is the eldest MP in the new House of Representatives.

He was born on December 7, 1933, and will turn 90 this year.

The Election Commission endorsed 400 constituency-based MPs and 100-party-list MPs on Monday.

The Constitution’s Article 121 requires the first House meeting to be convened within 15 days after the MPs’ endorsement.

The ceremonial opening of the House of Representatives presided over by His Majesty the King or his representative, is expected to be held on July 5.

Once the ceremony is completed, the House of Representatives is required to hold its first working meeting within 10 days. Hence, the first time the House officially meets will be on July 15, with Viroj as acting chairman. This is the day MPs will be voting to choose the House speaker and two deputies.

The veteran politician, who completed his studies at the Royal Thai Police Academy, had previously worked with several parties, including Prachakorn Thai and Chart Thai.

Viroj was also part of the assets examination committee set up by the 1991 coup-makers after the Chatichai Choonhavan government was ousted.

He also became interior minister in the short-lived government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon in 1992 and deputy PM of the Chuan Leekpai-led government in 2000.

Viroj joined Pheu Thai and won as party-list MP in the 2011 general election. He was named Pheu Thai leader in October 2012 and contested in the 2019 election as Pheu Thai’s No 1 party-list candidate. However, the one-ballot electoral system and mixed proportional voting system prevented the party from winning a single party-list seat.

The party-list seats were instead shared among smaller parties.

Though the role of caretaker House speaker is short-lived, it is crucial as the election of House speaker and deputies can be turbulent, as witnessed in 2019.

At the time, then-Future Forward Party leader and party-list MP Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit stood up to speak on the House floor, sparking protests from coalition MPs as Thanathorn had been suspended by the charter court over a court case.

The protest from the coalition side saw the opposition protesting as well, which delayed the meeting by a few hours before then-acting chairman Chai Chidchob could bring the situation under control.