Parliamentary vote to select Thai PM postponed: Reports
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The vote was to be held on July 27, following two unsuccessful attempts by Move Forward Party's Pita Limjaroenra to become Thai premier.
PHOTO: AFP
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BANGKOK - The Speaker of Thailand’s Parliament on Tuesday postponed a vote for the next prime minister by the two Houses of the legislature, local media reported, as a political deadlock drags on more than two months after a May general election.
The vote was scheduled for Thursday, following two unsuccessful attempts
“There will be no meeting on the 27th,” House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha told The Reporters news website in an interview.
“I will inform later when the next vote will be.”
Voters rejected nearly 10 years of rule by the military and a military-backed government in the May election, with Move Forward winning the most seats. Another opponent of military rule, the populist Pheu Thai Party, came in second.
But under a Constitution drafted during military rule, members of a military-appointed Senate also vote for the prime minister, and Mr Pita failed to win the necessary majority in a joint sitting of both Houses.
Pheu Thai, which is backed by the self-exiled former telecoms tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, was expected to nominate its candidate for premier this week, as part of an eight-party alliance that includes Move Forward.
Mr Wan Noor said the postponement was partly due to a petition to review a decision to block the re-nomination of Mr Pita as a prime ministerial candidate last Wednesday.
The independent ombudsman’s office petitioned the Constitutional Court to review that decision, saying parliamentary regulation could not trump constitutional rules on nominating a prime minister, following a request by Move Forward.
“I am aware of the postponing of the Parliament meeting,” Mr Pita told reporters. “There is not much I can do but to be back on the ground and spend most of my time there.”
Pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets in recent days to denounce the Senate for blocking Mr Pita’s path to power. The demonstrations have been peaceful.
Mr Wan Noor said the next vote would be on Aug 3 if the court does not take up the ombudsman’s request.
A meeting of the alliance scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled, and Pheu Thai lawmaker Sutin Klangsaeng said that talks between the eight parties were under way to find a way forward. REUTERS, AFP
