Thailand moved closer to a political deadlock on Thursday as politicians gathered in Parliament to vote to elect the next prime minister with no clear winner in sight.
Top candidate, Pita LimjaroenratA charismatic progressive young man, met a major setback on the eve of the vote when the Election Commission of Thailand asked the Constitutional Court to suspend him from Parliament.
Mr. Pita, who scored a great politics victory over the ruling junta and its royalist allies in a general election in May, has come under investigation for allegedly owning an undeclared stake in a media company. On Wednesday, the Court also said it had accepted Pita’s complaint about his calls to amend a law. severely punish the criticism of the Thai monarchy.
No blow has stopped Move Forward, Mr Pita’s party and other coalition members from nominating him for prime minister on Thursday morning. But the setbacks will make it difficult for him to win the support needed to become prime minister, raising the possibility of new pro-democracy street protests in a country seemingly fed up with rule. of the army.
Thailand has a long history of military coups, and Pita’s supporters largely see him as the victim of a military-dominated political system that they say is trying to stifle the will. of Thai voters again.
Wanwichit Boonprong, a political scientist at Rangsit University, said the Election Commission’s decision to recommend the suspension would be “used by senators as a new argument not to vote for Pita”.
To become prime minister, Mr Pita or one of his allies will need enough support in the 500-member House of Representatives to overcome opposition in the 250-member military-backed Senate. Anything less than 376 votes – a simple majority of both houses – will bring the process to a standstill.
Many assumed Mr Pita would fall short of that target on Thursday. The second vote for the prime minister will be held on July 19, and a third election, if necessary, a day later.
Mr. Pita’s progressive coalition may not be strong enough to weather the loss if he is defeated. Members of Pheu Thai, the second-largest party in the coalition, are expected to vote for Mr Pita but could try to form a new coalition led by one of the party’s prime ministerial candidates. leadership after Thursday.
Pheu Thai could bring in Srettha Thavisin, a property tycoon who is seen as a better candidate for the Thai military, if Mr. Pita, 42, fails.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the general who came to power after leading Thailand’s most recent military coup in 2014, said on Tuesday he would retire from politics once the new government is installed. establish. But the military and its allies can try to stay in power in other ways.
“It’s very complicated and it’s very difficult to predict” who will win, Mr. Wanwichit said.
Thailand is one of the largest and most important economies in Southeast Asia, a region where several countries have slide once more towards tyranny after experiments with democracy. The country was once a stable ally of the United States but has drawn closer to China under the current administration.
Mr Pita told reporters on Wednesday that he felt the Electoral Commission’s move against him was unfair and should not have come so close to the parliamentary vote. Supporters of his coalition are expected to gather outside the National Assembly building in Bangkok ahead of a formal vote to elect the prime minister on Thursday night.
The vote, and the protests that are likely to follow, could exacerbate smoldering anger against the junta in Thailand, and could trigger a wave of civil unrest. similar to previous military coups in the country.
