27-7-2023 (BANGKOK) The Constitutional Court of Thailand will decide next Thursday whether to accept a petition challenging the rejection of the renomination of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister. The Ombudsman earlier this week asked the court to rule on the rejection and to order parliament to postpone the next prime ministerial vote. Several complaints from both the public and members of parliament were lodged with the Office of the Ombudsman after the joint sitting of MPs and senators rejected Mr Pita’s renomination last week. They claimed the rejection contravened the charter. The Ombudsman decided to seek a judicial review and ask the court to postpone the prime ministerial vote to prevent any damage that would be difficult to fix.
Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha postponed another vote scheduled for today pending the court’s ruling. He said selecting the prime minister should wait because the Ombudsman was seeking the judicial review, and he would call a new joint session if the Constitutional Court rejected the petition for deliberation. Mr Wan voiced disagreement with some MFP MPs who planned to ask parliament to review its resolution on Mr Pita’s renomination, saying the issue should wait for the court’s decision.
The prime ministerial selection is likely to be completed well before the five-year term of the military-appointed senators expires, according to Democrat Party list-MP Chuan Leekpai. Some minor parties in the MFP-led alliance called for it to wait for the Senate’s term to end next May, so that the prime ministerial candidate could be elected by the House of Representatives alone. It is speculated that the court may decide whether to pass a ruling on the petition on August 9. If the court throws out the petition, Mr Wan said he would schedule a meeting to elect a prime minister immediately, but parliament must be informed three days in advance.
