Thailand’s Political Turmoil: Court Suspends Move Forward Leader from Parliament Amidst Vote for PM

In anticipation of its decision on whether he broke election law, Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday agreed to suspend Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat from his responsibilities as a member of Parliament. Pita is a leading candidate to become prime minister.

The court made its announcement before a second Parliamentary vote on whether to confirm Pita as prime minister. After winning the most votes in the general election in May, his party put together an eight-party coalition that secured 312 seats in the House of Representatives.

The non-elected, military-appointed Senate, which votes alongside the lower house to choose the country’s leader of the government, did not, however, give the coalition enough support in an initial vote last week.

Pita could still be nominated and chosen as prime minister under the court’s announcement, at least until a decision is made. But it also puts pressure on him to withdraw so that another candidate can run, possibly even before the Wednesday second vote.

Because candidates for the legislature are not permitted to own shares of media companies, the state Election Commission of Thailand referred Pita’s case to court because there was evidence he had broken the law. His backers have disputed the commission’s finding on what is generally considered to be, at worst, a minor technical infraction.

After being rejected last week when he didn’t receive enough support from the Senate, whose members made it clear they wouldn’t vote for him because of his party’s platform, Pita had been anticipated to have one final opportunity Wednesday to convince the nation’s Parliament to confirm him as the next prime minister.

After being rejected last week when he didn’t receive enough support from the Senate, whose members made it clear they wouldn’t vote for him because of his party’s platform, Pita had been anticipated to have one final opportunity Wednesday to convince the nation’s Parliament to confirm him as the next prime minister.

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Pita asked senators to follow the same guidelines they did in 2019 when they voted for a candidate of a coalition supported by the military that held a majority of House seats, in a message posted on Twitter ahead of Wednesday’s session. In addition, he charged that some senators were using the contentious charge that he was undermining the monarchy as an excuse to oppose his candidature when, in reality, it was because they believed his party’s broader reform agenda threatened their interests.

By noon on Wednesday, Pita was still not certain to get a second chance to win the required majority in a vote involving both the lower house and the Senate. It is unclear whether he can legitimately receive a second nomination for the position of prime minister, so a parliamentary decision is first required.

After a discussion, House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha was supposed to make a decision. Despite having come from one of the smaller parties in the coalition supporting Pita’s campaign, he was elected to the House and has stated that he must weigh the benefits and drawbacks of Pita’s re-nomination.

It’s uncertain whether Wednesday’s vote for prime minister will go forward if Pita is declared ineligible. It’s also uncertain whether the third voting round that was scheduled for Thursday would happen if the vote were to take place but not confirm Pita.

Pita announced on Monday that he would run for prime minister again this week, but if he did not receive significantly more votes than last week, he said he would allow a candidate from another coalition party to run. There isn’t much evidence to suggest that he would pick up many if any, additional senators this time.

The potential prime minister nominee to take Pita’s place in the media’s spotlight has already done so.

He or she would belong to the Pheu Thai party, which garnered 141 seats overall, just 10 fewer than Move Forward, which garnered 151. An overwhelming majority of elected representatives, or 312 House seats, were won by the eight-party coalition seeking to seize power.

However, a joint session of the lower house and the Senate is necessary for a vote to confirm a new prime minister. Last week, the coalition received only 324 votes, far less than the 376 required for a majority.

The only candidate for Move Forward was Pita, while Pheu Thai registered three candidates: Chaikasem Nitsiri, the party’s chief strategist; Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the exiled daughter of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra; and real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin.

The fan favorite now appears to be Srettha. He only began participating in politics last year, and on Tuesday, Paetongtarn publicly endorsed him.

She referred to his business savvy and experience, which are considered to be Srettha’s strongest selling points to stabilize an economy that has struggled to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

There will be pressure to form a new coalition with less liberal partners and drop Move Forward because its stance on royal reforms is seen as the barrier to a compromise if neither Pita nor a Pheu Thai candidate can win parliamentary approval.

Move Forward, on the other hand, has stated it has no interest in working in a government with parties associated with the nine years of military-backed rule that are now coming to an end. As a result, it may feel more at home in opposition.

Professor Saowanee T. Alexander at Ubon Ratchathani University in northeastern Thailand said, “I believe they would be willing to step out of the picture themselves and still feel like they are honoring what they announced to voters in the pre-election campaigning.”

She expressed optimism mixed with pessimism, claiming that the issue of monarchy reform “makes politics going forward very hard.”

Saowanee said, “I still don’t see how we can get rid of these obstacles.”

Pita’s supporters and pro-democracy protestors have already called for demonstrations on Wednesday in response to the possibility of Pita being denied the position of prime minister.