The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Friday rejected an attempt to impeach 248 former MPs who approved an attempt to amend the 2007 constitution to make the Senate fully elected in 2013.
The junta-appointed NLA needed at least 132 out of 220 votes, or three-fifths of all members, to impeach the former House of Representatives members from the Pheu Thai Party. However, the votes for impeachment ranged between just 55 and 66 per person with Prompong Nopparit recieving the highest total.
The results were expected as an NLA source said on Thursday that the majority would not vote for the proposal forwarded by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Key Pheu Thai members including acting leader Viroj Pao-in and former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra followed the vote at party headquarters on Friday.
Pol Lt Gen Viroj welcomed the decision, saying the former MPs did not violate the now-defunct constitution.
He said the party continued to support the National Council for Peace and Order, which overthrew the Pheu Thai government in a coup in May last year, in its efforts to promote reconciliation and reform the country.
The impeachment bid began after the Constitutional Court ruled that the push for a fully elected Senate in 2013 was in violation of Section 68 of the 2007 charter, which prohibits any attempt to overthrow the monarchy and unconstitutional efforts to seize power.
An NACC investigation found that the former MPs had "stealthily" swapped a draft charter amendment previously submitted to the Secretariat of the House of Representatives with a different version when they voted to pass it, said Vichai Vivitsevi, a member of the anti-graft body.
However, many NLA members believed it was not exactly clear how the former MPs were guilty of misconduct, as amending the charter is considered a parliamentary privilege, said an NLA source.
The NLA had previously voted against a similar proposal to impeach 39 former senators on the same grounds, noted the source, who added that impeachment risked generating new political conflict.
NLA vice-chairman Peerasak Porjit said the NLA would officially inform the NACC, former MPs and cabinet of its decision.