BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Pro-royalist members of Thailand’s upper house are facing mounting pressure to back Pita Limjaroenrat (pic) as the country’s next premier, after the Move Forward leader staked a claim to form a coalition government of pro-democracy parties that swept Sunday’s (May 15) election.
Hurdles have emerged in Pita’s path to power after some of the 250 unelected members of the Senate, stacked with allies of the pro-military establishment of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, expressed their opposition to his bid for the top job, saying they won’t be guided by the election results alone.
Under Thailand’s constitution, the 250-member Senate gets to vote alongside the 500-member lower house in picking the next prime minister.
In a country with a long history of coups, much of the opposition to Pita stems from his party’s pledges to amend the lese majeste law, which punishes criticism against King Maha Vajiralongkorn and other members of the royal family by up to 15 years in prison, end military conscription and rewrite the junta-era constitution.
"Pita has a defective political attitude,” said Senator Chadej Insawang, one of the lawmakers objecting to the 42-year-old party leader. "I can’t accept that. I’ve vowed to be loyal to the monarchy.”
With Pita’s proposed coalition of six parties - including his Move Forward and Pheu Thai - well short of the 376 votes needed for a prime minister to get elected, supporters and allies of the Harvard-educated party chief are putting pressure on the Senate to back the popular mandate.
On Thai-language Twitter, hashtags that translate as "switch off the Senate” and "what good is the Senate” are trending with more than one million messages so far Tuesday.
"Pita faces an uphill battle as he needs to somehow convince nearly 70 Senators to actively vote for him, but Move Forward’s policy proposals are considered radical by Thai standards,” said Peter Mumford, South-East Asia practice head at risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
But there is another option. Calls are also growing for parties in the outgoing coalition, such as Democrat and Bhumjaithai - which together have won 96 seats and have previously opposed the Senate’s role in choosing the prime minister - to recognise the will of the people and back Pita.
"Now is the time for you to stand your ground and vote for Pita to truly conform with democratic principles, without giving the 250 Senators a say,” Srettha Thavisin, one of Pheu Thai’s prime minister candidates, wrote on Twitter.
"Ignoring this duty will come with a heavy price to pay in the future.”
Both the Bhumjaithai and Democrat parties said on Tuesday they agreed that the party with the most seats should get the first chance to form a coalition government, but they’ve remained quiet so far on how they would vote regarding Pita’s leadership specifically.
It’s also unclear how united the Senate bloc is when it comes to picking a prime minister. Some members have said they were still undecided, while others said they would abstain. Few, though, vowed to back the popular mandate.
"The May 14 election has reflected the will of the people,” Senator Amphon Jindawatana said in a Facebook post. "No one should intervene in the democratic process, no matter the excuse.”
But Move Forward’s Pita said he believed no one would eventually dare go against the popular mandate.
"Everyone should accept the popular mandate,” Pita told reporters on Monday after announcing his plan to lead the coalition. "Defying that will not do anyone any good, even the Senators.”
