The Pheu Thai Party has postponed its planned announcement about the formation of a government now that the vote for a new prime minister has been put off for at least another two weeks.
Deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai broke the news on Thursday after House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha indefinitely postponed the vote until after the Constitutional Court issues a ruling on a related issue on Aug 16.
The court said it needed more time to consider the constitutionality of a decision by parliament on July 19 to reject the renomination of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister, after he lost an earlier bid the week before.
The July 19 decision was widely criticised by legal experts and constitutional scholars, who said a vote for prime minister was not a parliamentary motion and thus not bound by parliament’s normal procedural rules. Those rules state that a rejected motion cannot be brought back during the same parliamentary session.
After the July 19 vote in parliament, Move Forward conceded that Mr Pita was probably not going to get the support he needed, and it made way for Pheu Thai to try forming a government.
On Wednesday Pheu Thai said it had become clear that it could not obtain support for a government if the election-winning Move Forward remained in the eight-party coalition. The latter will now move to the opposition.
The news touched off feverish speculation about which parties Pheu Thai would bring into a new coalition, and how cabinet seats would be allocated.
That information, said Mr Phumtham, might be announced once the time for voting for a prime minister approaches.
In the meantime, Pheu Thai will continue coordinating with other political parties to garner more support. It is confident that it has secured enough support for its prime ministerial candidate, the deputy party leader said on Thursday.
“The more votes we obtain, the more stable the government is. Stability will help the government more effectively drive the solutions for solving the country’s crisis.” (Story continues below)
Pheu Thai Party leader Cholnan Srikaew (centre), deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai (left) and secretary-general Prasert Chantararuangthong (right) emerge from a meeting at party headquarters prior to announcing the exit from the coalition of the election-winning Move Forward Party on Wednesday. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
In making his party’s dramatic announcement on Wednesday, Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew pointed to Move Forward’s insistence on amending Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese-majeste law.
“It turns out that they do not accept any change to Section 112 and some parties even stated that they would not join a government with Move Forward anyway,” Dr Cholnan said.
Pheu Thai had told Move Forward earlier that day that it was withdrawing from the original eight-party alliance and would seek to build a new coalition that would rally behind Mr Srettha.
Many of the original coalition members are expected to stay on, although the one-member Fair Party has announced that it will move to the opposition benches in solidarity with Move Forward.
MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon stressed on Wednesday that Pheu Thai had never asked his party to back down on its intention to amend the royal defamation law. It simply pointed out that other parties had said they could never support a government that attempted to change Section 112.