A coalition of Thai pro-democracy parties settled a dispute over the powerful parliament speaker’s position, edging closer to forming a new government as the parliament met for the first time after the May election.
(Bloomberg) — A coalition of Thai pro-democracy parties settled a dispute over the powerful parliament speaker’s position, edging closer to forming a new government as the parliament met for the first time after the May election.
Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, 79, a former speaker and leader of the Prachachat Party, was chosen as consensus candidate for the speaker’s job after Move Forward and Pheu Thai, the largest parties in the coalition, wrangled over the issue for weeks. The stage is now set for the first sitting of the 500-member lower chamber on Tuesday, where lawmakers are scheduled to elect the speaker and two deputies.
The coalition’s prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat said the bloc was confident of securing enough support from lawmakers in a joint sitting of the parliament to be convened by the new speaker for the premier’s election. Talks with members of the 250-member Senate — stacked with allies of the pro-military royalist establishment — have progressed well, he said.
“The people’s mandate expressed on May 14 has a high possibility of becoming reality,” he told reporters late on Monday.
Although Pita’s coalition has the support of about 312 lawmakers, it’s still short of the 376 votes needed to ensure his win. Doubts remain over how the Senate will vote, with many opposing Pita’s bid as he has stuck to a campaign pledge to seek amendments to Article 112 of the criminal code. That law punishes criticism of the king and other top royals by as much as 15 years in prison.
Investors are counting on the premier appointment to end a political impasse that has unnerved markets and prompted foreign funds to dump the nation’s stocks and bonds since the May 14 polls.
The 42-year-old Pita is also facing a probe by the election body that may lead to his disqualification.
Earlier, King Maha Vajiralongkorn urged the newly elected lawmakers to maintain integrity and to accord top priority to national interests as he presided over the traditional opening ceremony at the parliament on Monday. The event was also attended by Queen Suthida, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha and his cabinet, members of the military-appointed Senate and other dignitaries.
“How the nation will prosper depends on your intellect, capability and integrity as you perform your duties while holding the country’s and the people’s interests paramount,” King Vajiralongkorn said in a televised address.
Thailand’s benchmark stock index is the worst performer in Asia this year. with foreign investors offloading a net $3.1 billion since the end of 2022, the most among Asia’s emerging markets. The baht is the second-biggest loser in Southeast Asia since the May vote.
Most businesses have temporarily frozen new investment decisions until clearer directions from the new government emerge and as exports remain weak, Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the the Federation of Thai Industries, said last month.
The May polls saw a defeat of the military-backed, pro-royalist establishment in a country that has seen at least a dozen successful coups since 1932, when a revolution ended centuries of absolute monarchy. Prayuth, a former military chief, has ruled Southeast Asia’s second largest economy since he seized power in a coup in 2014.
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