Pheu Thai breaking with Move Forward to form its own coalition

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From Thai PBS World

The Pheu Thai party announced this afternoon (Wednesday) that it is breaking from the Move Forward party to form its own coalition government and nominate Srettha Thavisin for selection as the prime minister of Thailand.

The announcement came shortly after a failed meeting between core members of Pheu Thai and Move Forward, aimed at resolving the thorny issue of Move Forward’s stand on amendment of the lèse majesté law, which was used as a pretext by many senators and MPs to withhold support for prime ministerial candidates from the Move Forward or Pheu Thai parties.

The meeting started at about 9.30am at the Pheu Thai party head office, during which Pheu Thai core members asked the Move Forward party to backtrack on its policy to amend the lèse majesté law, so that the Pheu Thai party’s prime ministerial candidate can receive support from senators and MPs.

Move Forward’s core members refused to budge on the party’s stand, said the source.

In the statement, the Pheu Thai party also announced that it will not support any attempt to amend the lèse majesté law and that the Move Forward party will not be included in a coalition government led by Pheu Thai.

The party has, however, vowed to push for constitutional amendments, blaming some provisions in the law for the delay in the formation of the government and for causing political crises. It said that charter amendments will be treated as part of the national agenda and will be raised at the first meeting of the new cabinet, to be followed by the formation of a charter-drafting assembly and a referendum to approve the amended charter.

The party said that a Pheu Thai-led government would push for several policies mentioned in the memorandum of understanding between the eight coalition parties, which are also in line with the party’s policies, such as marriage equality, the progressive liquor law, reform of the police, the military and the judicial system, decentralisation of governance, replacement of mandatory conscription with voluntary enlistment and the scrapping of all forms of monopoly.

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From Pattaya News

Postpone Tomorrow’s Scheduled Prime Minister Vote

Thailand’s House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha has postponed the Prime Ministerial voting originally slated for tomorrow, August 4th, 2023.

The postponement came after the Constitutional Court on Thursday, August 4th, decided to defer the reviewing of a petition to determine the constitutional validity of the Parliament’s decision to reject the renomination of Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP).

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From Thai PBS World

Next vote on new Thai PM could be on August 18th or 19th

A joint sitting of parliament is expected to convene on either August 18^th or 19^th, after the Constitutional Court rules on whether it will consider a petition regarding the renomination of Move Forward leader for prime minister and whether to order the suspension of the process to select a prime minister.

House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said today (Saturday) that, as the Court has delayed its consideration to August 16^th, parliament plans, subject to that ruling, to reconvene within the following three days, with the intention to select a prime minister.

The Ombudsman has submitted a petition to the Court regarding the constitutionality of parliament’s decision on July 19^th to vote down the renomination of Pita Limjaroenrat for the premiership.

Wan Muhamad, speaking as he departed for the ASEAN Inter-Parliament Assembly in Indonesia, reiterated that parliament should wait for the Court’s ruling before making any moves concerning the premiership.

On Friday, Wan Muhamad ordered an abrupt end to the joint parliamentary sitting after Move Forward MPs demanded that the chamber reconsider the July 19^th decision (now with the Charter Court). The speaker and some senators tried in vain to talk down the demand before closing the meeting.

As a result, a discussion on a motion, proposed by Move Forward, to revoke Article 272 of the Constitution, which allows senators to vote for a prime minister, has been delayed until the next parliamentary meeting.