2023-07-13 17:48:43
In Thailand, winning the legislative elections is not enough to become prime minister. The elected members of the two chambers of parliament – the Senate and the House of Representatives – have the last word in choosing who will lead the country.
Thursday, July 13, the 749 parliamentarians, gathered in the National Assembly, had to vote, for or against, the only candidate for the post of chief executive: Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, leader of the progressive party Move Forward. Elected for the first time to the House of Representatives in 2019, he carries the hopes of the young generation which mobilized massively in 2020 during major pro-democracy demonstrations.
He needed 375 votes to become prime minister. With a comfortable majority in the lower house (312 MPs out of 500), Pita Limjaroenrat could count on the support of the Pheu Thai party, of which his formation is a partner. On the other hand, the 249 senators appointed by the junta in power since the 2014 coup d’etat are not very fond of its program which notably provides for a reform of the law on lèse-majesté. In Thailand, the king is considered a living deity who should not be criticized under any circumstances. Only 13 of them gave him their vote. With a total of 324 votes out of 705 votes cast, Pita Limjaroenrat’s candidacy was therefore rejected by the parliamentarians.
Cycle of political crises
“I accept, but I don’t give up”, he said at the time of the result. A second round, in which he will be a candidate, will be held on July 19. Until then, Thailand is heading for a period of tension. The parliament compound was barricaded for the vote on Thursday, barbed wire had been installed on the compound walls and shipping containers blocked access routes. Already in 2020, the dissolution of the predecessor of Move Forward, Futur Forward, had provoked massive demonstrations, punctuated by clashes with the police.
Outside the parliament, supporters of the MFP-led coalition are assembling to witness the debate and the voting process for the prime minister.
The Move Forward Party has called upon its supporters to don orange clothing and accessories today.
The entrances surrounding the… pic.twitter.com/wA77x9yQMB
— Thai Enquirer (@ThaiEnquirer) July 13, 2023
Thai politics is marked by repeated crises in which the demands for reform of the young generation are opposed to a stranglehold on the power of the army and those close to the royal family. Pita Limjaroenrat has moreover been twice close to being excluded from the political game. The first, when the electoral commission looked into shares he owns in a television channel that is no longer in operation.
The second, when the Constitutional Court ruled admissible the complaint of a lawyer close to royalist circles accusing him of wanting to overthrow the system of constitutional monarchy in force in the country. Maneuvers denounced as a form of “legal warfare” by the Pita camp.
#leader #progressive #camp #removed #seat #prime #minister