Election letdown: MFP leader falls short of prime ministerial votes in Thai race
Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP) and the top vote-getter in the General Election 2023, fell short of securing enough votes from the members of Parliament and senators to become the Thai Prime Minister. Despite obtaining 323 votes, Pita failed to reach the required threshold of 375 votes.
The newly elected President of Parliament, Wan Muhamad Nor Matha (Wan Nor), delivered the opening speech at around 9.55am as the Parliamentary session convened to choose the new prime minister today.
Wan Nor outlined the agenda for the meeting, which included allocating four hours for MPs to engage in debates, two hours for senators to express their opinions and the commencement of the voting process for the prime minister at around 5pm.
However, before the voting could begin, a senator named Renu Tungwarngkun tendered her resignation, reducing the total number of senators to 249. According to reports, Renu expressed her intention to resign on July 12, a day prior to the meeting.
Subsequently, Wan Nor provided an opportunity for each MP to propose a candidate for the position of prime minister. The leader of the Phue Thai Party, Chonlanarn Sikaew, proposed Pita while no other MPs or parties put forth alternative candidates.
During the ensuing six-hour debate within Parliament, the primary topic of discussion revolved around a proposed revision of Section 112 of the Criminal Law, commonly known as the lese majeste law. The MFP aimed to amend this law in order to assist individuals who had been charged with expressing dissenting opinions.
Some MPs and senators expressed their satisfaction with the law revision, adding the PM should not come from the MFP. Others pointed out that Pita did not meet the requirements for the position since he held shares in a media company.
During the voting session, each senator and MP was called upon individually to cast their vote by stating “Approve,” “Disapprove,” or “Abstain.” Pita needed to secure at least 375 votes out of the total 749 members in order to be appointed as the prime minister.
Of the votes cast, 325 voted in favour of Pita, 188 opposed his appointment, and 199 abstained. Most of the senators decided to vote no. Only 14 out of 249 senators approved Pita to be the PM.
A Palang Pracharath Party MP accidentally vote for Pita and later requested to change his vote to abstain.
According to the report on Thairath, the next Parliament meeting to select the new PM of Thailand will be held again on July 19.
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