Move Forward urgently planning next steps after Pita fails in PM vote
The Move Forward Party convened an urgent meeting of its MPs on Friday to discuss its next steps following the failure of its prime ministerial candidate to get majority support from Parliament.
Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, the party’s sole candidate to be Thailand’s next prime minister, received 324 votes for and 182 votes against, with 199 abstentions, at Thursday’s parliamentary vote.
To gain the top political job, he needed at least 376 votes from 500 MPs and 250 senators who gathered for a joint session to vote.
Pita and other key party figures attended the meeting held at the Parliament building.
Move Forward deputy leader Nutthawut Buaprathum said on Friday: “We will fight on.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on Friday that a second round of voting to select the next prime minister will proceed on July 19 as scheduled.
He declined, however, to comment on whether Pita could be nominated again after he failed to win majority support on Thursday.
“I cannot comment on this matter now. It depends on the [parliamentary] meeting. I have to retain neutrality. We need to consult the regulations and the Constitution and also listen to a decision by the meeting,” he said.
In a related development, Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew insisted on Friday that his party would remain firm with the existing eight-party coalition led by Move Forward and that it has no “plan B” for the parliamentary vote to select a new prime minister.
Pheu Thai is the second-largest partner in the coalition, with 141 MPs, 10 seats fewer than Move Forward’s 151.
Cholnan said Pheu Thai was waiting for a meeting with Move Forward to discuss the matter, particularly over how to gain majority support for Pita.
He admitted that it was rather difficult as many senators refused to vote for Pita or even a PM candidate whose coalition includes Move Forward.
During the debate before Thursday’s vote, several senators and MPs who spoke against voting for Pita pointed to Move Forward’s plan to amend Article 112 of the Penal Code involving lese majeste, which they argued would undermine Thailand’s monarchy and the country's stability.
Cholnan also praised Move Forward as being “strongly determined” for refusing to drop its plan to amend the lese majeste law although it is a key obstacle for Pita to become prime minister.
Regarding speculation that the outgoing coalition is planning to nominate Palang Pracharath Party leader General Prawit Wongsuwan as a candidate for prime minister on July 19, Cholnan said Pheu Thai and Move Forward would not allow a minority government to be formed.
“The best government should advance the best interests of the country and there must be Pheu Thai and Move Forward in it,” said the Pheu Thai leader.
