27-6-2023 (BANGKOK) The Pheu Thai Party has expressed its intention to seek the position of House speaker and has instructed its negotiating team to discuss the matter with the Move Forward Party, which leads the coalition, on Wednesday. This was confirmed by a party source, who stated that Pheu Thai MPs met on Tuesday to finalize the party’s stance on the issue.
Before the meeting, leader Cholnan Srikaew briefed the MPs on the party executives’ resolution. All reporters were then asked to leave the meeting room to keep the discussions private. Suchart Tancharoen, a Pheu Thai list-MP, attended the meeting, and he is expected to be nominated to contest the House speaker post. Mr Suchart, 65, a former Palang Pracharath MP, was a deputy speaker in the last House. He defected to Pheu Thai in March.
Dr Cholnan informed the meeting that the eight coalition parties still had a common goal to support Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat as the country’s 30th prime minister. However, Pheu Thai considers it necessary to discuss the issue of the House speaker among its executives and MPs. Tuesday’s meeting was intended to give a mandate to the party negotiating team to make its position clear to their Move Forward counterparts.
Each party has insisted that the speaker should come from its ranks, but they need to resolve their differences before the opening of parliament on July 3. The vote to choose the speaker will take place the following day. Some local media reports suggest that Pheu Thai has three people in mind to propose for the speaker’s job, including Mr Suchart. Move Forward also has three names on its shortlist.
Dr Cholnan declined to name any of the people being considered before the meeting with party executives, stating that the final party resolution will determine the proposals. He acknowledged that Pheu Thai MPs and members want the party to get the post of speaker. However, the negotiating team has another proposal that needs to be discussed with Move Forward on Wednesday, which he declined to elaborate on.
Earlier reports had suggested that Pheu Thai was willing to let Move Forward have the speaker position as long as the runner-up party was given both deputies’ posts. However, Pheu Thai later denied any such accommodation had been reached. Move Forward has been firm in its insistence on taking the two top positions to steer its ambitious legislative program through the House.
As the two parties are so close in terms of numbers, with Move Forward having 151 MPs and Pheu Thai 141, the latter’s MPs believe their party deserves the speakership. The negotiations between the two parties will be crucial in determining who will take the position and how the coalition will function in the coming months.
