Pita fails in bid to become prime minister
Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat failed in this bid to be elected prime minister by the Parliament, receiving just 324 votes in a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. He needed to win 375 votes.
On Thursday, the joint session of both chambers convened to elect Thailand's 30th prime minister.
Pita received 323 votes, most of them from his eight-party coalition, falling short of the 376 he required. The second round of voting for PM is scheduled for July 19.
On Thursday, Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha opened the voting for the election of the prime minister at around 4pm after six hours of debate.
Pita was the lone candidate.
The voting process was conducted openly, with the results being counted by a committee consisting of six members of Parliament.
The voting process involved the disclosure and alphabetical listing of the attendees' names. A total of 646 parliamentarians took part in the meeting — 216 senators and 460 members of the House of Representatives.
After two hours of voting, Parliament decided that Pita had not received the required minimum of 375 votes, therefore, he was not elected as the new prime minister.
Pita secured 324 votes, while 182 voted against him and 199 abstained.
Of the 250 junta-appointed senators, 13 voted for Pita, 39 voted against him, 159 abstained, while one senator had resigned just a day before the voting for PM.
A second and third voting will be held on July 19 and 20.
