4-7-2023 (BANGKOK) Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, Thailand’s former president of the bicameral National Assembly, has been elected as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. His nomination for the position in the parliament was uncontested, and he was elected in a parliamentary session where the newly elected 500-member lower house convened to elect its new speaker, first deputy speaker, and second deputy speaker.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party, nominated Wan Noor, who is the leader of the Prachachat Party. In his address to the parliament, Wan Noor said that he will be politically neutral and will adhere to the king’s instructions given on Monday during the official opening of the new parliamentary session.
Under the Thai constitution, the House speaker will also be the president of the National Assembly. After the King has royally endorsed the position, the new House speaker will call a joint session of the parliament, comprising 500 MPs in the lower house and 250 senators in the upper house, to elect a new prime minister.
Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, who is 79 years old, previously served as Thailand’s House speaker from 1996 to 2000 and headed the interior ministry, transport ministry, or agriculture ministry in previous governments.
The election of the House speaker is a crucial step in Thailand’s political process, as it sets the stage for the election of a new prime minister.
