Wan Noor meets whips to discuss details of 2nd vote for PM

The meeting included representatives of the eight-party bloc, parties from outside the bloc and Senate whips.

The meeting discussed the timeframe allocated for debate before voting can begin and talked about setting an agenda for the charter amendment bill submitted by Move Forward Party last week.

The Move Forward-led eight-party coalition reaffirmed its stance to renominate Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister candidate on Wednesday, even though he failed to win the 375 votes required in the first round of voting last Thursday.

The coalition commands 312 MPs and needs 63 more votes from either senators or MPs from outside the bloc to win the PM’s seat. In the first round, only 13 senators voted for Pita and most abstained.

Move Forward retaliated by submitting a bill to amend Article 272 of the charter and remove senators’ right to join MPs in voting for the PM.

Senators, meanwhile, have been suggesting that Pita cannot be renominated on grounds that parliamentary regulations prohibit the submission of the same motion in the same parliamentary session unless approved by the Parliament president.

The Parliament president must deem the situation to have changed before he can approve the resubmitting of the same motion.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Wan Noor said no decision was made on whether Pita can be renominated for the second round of voting. Hence, he said, he would leave it to the majority in Parliament to decide on Wednesday. The side that supports Pita’s renomination believes that the nomination of a PM candidate is not a parliamentary motion, so Pita can be renominated any number of times, he said. Wan Noor also said that if no prime minister is elected on Wednesday, he will have to come up with a date for a third round of voting. As for the charter amendment bill proposed by Move Forward, it cannot be put on the agenda as it can only be deliberated after Thailand gets a prime minister, he said.

Move Forward, meanwhile, announced that it will hold a meeting of its 151 MPs in Parliament as a rehearsal of the second round of PM voting.

The party said it will also make preparations to submit seven bills to the House of Representatives, among which are bills to reform the armed forces and action against businesses that hold a monopoly.