BANGKOK — Thailand’s rocky road to naming a new prime minister took a fresh turn Saturday as the candidate who led his party to first place in May’s general election said he is open to bowing out of contention if he cannot win a second round of voting in Parliament.
Pita Limjaroenrat, the 42-year-old leader of the progressive Move Forward Party, said he would be willing to let a coalition partner party field its candidate. However, he indicated the political battling could continue for weeks.
Lawmakers failed Thursday to confirm Pita as prime minister despite his party’s surprising victory in the May polls, when it garnered 151 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. It then assembled an eight-party coalition that together holds 312 seats, a clear majority in the lower house, giving it the right to nominate a prime minister.
To be elected prime minister, a candidate needs to win a majority of votes in a joint sitting of the lower house and the 250-seat Senate. Thursday’s vote to confirm Pita won only 324 votes, significantly short of the 376 needed, largely because he failed to bring enough members of the Senate over to his side.
A second round of voting is expected Wednesday.
Pita, in a Facebook video posted Saturday, said if it becomes clear that his party has no chance of getting its candidate approved, it will hand over the opportunity to the Pheu Thai Party, the second biggest in its coalition, with 141 House seats.
Pita was Move Forward’s only candidate while Pheu Thai has floated three names for a possible prime minister: real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin; Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 military coup; and Chaikasem Nitsiri, the party’s chief strategist.
It remained unclear Saturday which one Pheu Thai would nominate.
Pita said that while Move Forward is committed to form a government as the winner of the election, its struggle goes beyond the 14 million voters who backed the party and the 27 million in all who cast votes for the eight parties in its coalition.
“This is a fight of all people in Thailand,” he said. “The voice of the people must be the voice that shapes the future of this country.”
He called for political compromise and said: “We don’t have much time left, as I’m well aware that Thailand cannot go forward for long without a government of the people.”
Move Forward announced Friday that it is seeking to change the law to take away the Senate’s de facto veto power over who can form a new government and submitted a draft amendment to the Constitution. Pita said Saturday if all fails, he will step aside to let Pheu Thai take the lead in nominating a prime minister.
If the amendment succeeds, Pita’s nomination for prime minister will be submitted for another vote, perhaps by September. If that fails, Move Forward will step aside — while remaining in the coalition — to let Pheu Thai submit its candidate for prime minister.
Supporters of the Move Forward Party hold posters reading “Cancel senators” during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May’s general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Supporters of the Move Forward Party stage a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May’s general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Supporters of the Move Forward Party stage a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May’s general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A supporter of the Move Forward Party holds a poster of Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May’s general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Supporters of the Move Forward Party hold posters reading “Cancel senators” gather during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 14, 2023. The protesters are irate that Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party that placed first in May’s general election, failed to be named prime minister by Parliament on Wednesday because only a handful of members from the non-elected Senate gave him their support. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
