Senate fails to pick speaker

Senate fails to pick speaker

Next vote scheduled to be held on Friday

The selection of a new Senate speaker will be held on Friday, one day before the Upper House's nine-day extraordinary session ends.

Senators attend the first day of an extraordinary session yesterday to deliberate the appointment of a new National Anti-corruption Commission member and a new member of the Administrative Court. CHANAT KATANYU

The date was fixed after the chamber failed to reach an agreement on the vote for the new Senate speaker on Friday.

At least 65 out of 73 appointed senators support Deputy Senate Speaker Surachai Liangboonlertchai to be the new president.

Sen Surachai, the source said, could also receive backing from 20 out of 77 newly elected senators, who joined the chamber yesterday for the first time.

Meanwhile, a number of elected senators are believed to support the caretaker government.

Senator for Suphan Buri Jongchai Thiengtham and appointed senator Pol Gen Jongrak Jutanont are reportedly backed by senators who sympathise with the government.

During the Senate meeting yesterday, the elected senators asked Sen Jongchai not to pursue the Senate president candidate position because he would have not enough votes to beat Sen Surachai because of lobbying for Pol Gen Jongrak, the source said.

The source noted Sen Jongchai appealed to be nominated as the deputy Senate speaker instead, but a final deal had yet to materialise.

Since the talks showed no sign of clear support for any candidate, the vote for the Senate speaker has to be deferred to May 9, the source said.

"The government will try in vain to seek support for Pol Gen Jongrak in this remaining period," the source said.

The Upper House president will have a key role if a political vacuum takes place should the charter court rule that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her cabinet need to step down from their positions, the source said.

The ruling follows the Supreme Administrative Court's judgement in March that the transfer of Thawil Pliensri as National Security Council secretary-general was unlawful and ordered him to be reinstated.

Meanwhile, the Senate session agreed to set up a panel to probe the qualifications of former deputy finance permanent secretary Supa Piyajitti, who has been nominated as the new member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). 

The chamber also agreed to establish a committee to discuss the qualifications of new specialist members of the Administrative Court Commission.

Paiboon Nititawan, a member of the so-called "Group of 40" senators, said the royal decree to convene the extraordinary session of the Upper House from yesterday to May 10 effectively put a limit on the scope of senators' duty. The agenda of the session covers only the endorsement of the members of the NACC and Administrative Court Commission.

Mr Paiboon said the limited agenda risks breaching the charter, which allows the Senate to pick the president and deputies and deliberate the impeachment cases.

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